\ i Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 (■ https://arChiVe.Org/detailS/ShOrthiStOryOfeaOOWeSt_O Hecent Excavations in the “Valley of the Kings.” — The royal au- thor of the hymn to Aten (p. 22) was succeeded by his son TM-Ankh- Amen, under whom Egypt returned to the older polytheism. Recently Lord Carnarvon discovered the tomb of this monarch, and its contents confirm in remarkable degree our earlier knowledge of Egyptian culture. The upper picture shows the entrance to the tomb in the center, and about it fruitless shafts sunk in the exploration. The lower photo shows Lord Carnarvon entering the tomb, February 27, 1923, while ^ visitors above await to see what may be brought to light. ALLYN AND BACON’S SERIES OF SCHOOL HISTORIES A SHORT HISTORY OF EARLY PEOPLES TO 1500 A.D. CANADIAN EDITION BY WILLIS MASON WEST SOMETIME PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA ALLYN AND BACON BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO WEST’S HISTORIES 12mo, cloth, numerous maps, plans, and illustrations THE ANCIENT WORLD THE MODERN WORLD HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AMERIOAN HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT SOURCE BOOK IN AMERICAN HISTORY THE STORY OF MAN’S EARLY PROGRESS THE STORY OF MODERN PROGRESS THE STORY OF WORLD PROGRESS THE STORY OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY COPYRIGHT, 1923 BY ALLYN AND BACON FAT NorIjjooU ^«0S J. 8. Cushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.8.A. 1 ■ FOREWORD SoM^ excellent high schools have decided that, for part of their students at least, they must cut down the time formerly given to Ancient history. For such schools this volume seeks to present the essentials of both Ancient and Medieval times in compact form, suited to the ninth or tenth school year. My aim has been to select topics that make the past live again and that at the same time form a continuous story and prepare best for an understanding of the social problems of to-day. Willis Mason West WiNDAGO Farm June 1, 1923 . 135 . 140 . 148 -.c . 157 Rule after 266 b.c. . 164 :>, 264-164 b.c. . 174 'ooR, 146-49 B.c. . . 183 . 192 -HIEFS . . 197 ey and Caesar -£ Norhr J. 8. Cushing Co.‘ Norwood, CONTENTS List of Illustrations . . vii List of Maps . . . . xiii PART I — THE WORLD BEFORE THE GREEKS CHAPTER ^ I.vJMen before Writing. ...... 1 II. Bronze-Age Men in Egypt 9 III. Men of the Euphrates and Tigris .... 29 IV. The Persian Empire 41 V. Middle States — Phoenicians and Hebrews . . 46 PART II — THE GREEKS VI. Aegean Civilization, 3500-1200 b.c 53 VII. The Greeks of Homer ...... 58 VHI. From the Trojan to the Persian War, 1000-500 B.c. . ' 67 IX. Greeks and Persians 88 X. , Athenian Leadership, 478-431 b.c 97 XI. The Athenian Empire in Peace .... 103 XII. Everyday Life in the Age of Pericles . . .116 XIII. The Peloponnesian War and the Fall of Hellas 124 PART III — THE GRAECO-ORIENTAL WORLD XIV. Alexander Joins East and West .... 135 XV. The Hellenistic World, 323-150 b.c. . . . 140 PART IV — ROME XVI. Land and People . 148 XVII. The Early Republic, 226 b.c 157 XVIII. L’nited Italy under Roman Rule after 266 b.c. . 164 XIX. The Winning of the World, 264-164 b.c. . . 174 XX. Strife between Rich and Poor, 146-49 b.c. . . 183 XXI. The Gracchi, 133-121 b.c. . . . . . 192 XXII. The Senate and Military Chiefs .... 197 Marius and Sulla; Pompey and Caesar V VI CONTENTS PART V — THE ROMAN EMPIRE CHAPTIJE PAQI, XXIII. Founding the Empire, 49-31 b.c. . . . 204 XXIV. The Emperors of the First Two Centuries, 31 B.c. -180 A.D 211 XXV. The Early Empire to 180 a.d 219 XXVI. The Later Empire : Decline and Fall . . 229 XXVII. The Victory of Christianity .... 237 PART VI — ROMANO-TEUTONIC EUROPE XXVIII. Merging of Roman and Teuton, 378-800 a.d. . 244 XXIX. Charlemagne’s Empire 259 XXX. The Feudal Age, 800-1300 . . . . w ■ 265 New Barbarian Attacks ; Britain Becomes England; Feudalism; The Church; England in the Feudal Age; Other Lands XXXI. Age of the Crusades, 1100-1300 . . . 294 The Crusades; Rise of Towns; Learning and Art PART VII — AGE OF THE RENAISSANCE XXXII. England and France, 1300-1500 . . . 305 XXXIII. Other European States 313 XXXIV. The Renaissance 321 Appendix — A Classified List of Selected Books for the Library . 1 Index 7 ILLUSTRATIONS Recent Excavations in the “ Valley of the Kings,” Egypt Frontispiece PAGE 1. Flint Fist-hatchet of Old Stone Age 1 2. Ivory Needles of Old Stone Age 2 3. Cliff Caves near Le Moustier . . . Plate I, facing 2 4. Mammoth Engraved by a Stone-age Artist . Plate I, facing 2 5. Stonehenge, Ruins and a “ Restoration ” . Plate II, facing 3 6. Reindeer Graven on Stone by Stone-age Artist ... 3 7. Prehistoric Paint Tube. Three views 4 8. Arrow-heads (Britain) of New Stone Age .... 5 9. Primitive Hoe and Evolution of the Plow .... 6 10. Stages in Fire-making ........ 7 11. Scraper of Old Stone Age. Two views .... 8 12. The Nile and the Great Pyramid. Colored . facing 9 13. Temple of Horus and Hathor at Edfu . Plate III, facing 10 14. Hall of Columns in Temple of Ammon, Karnak Plate IV, facing 11 15. Egyptian Capital, from Temple of Ammon at Karnak . 12 16. Levying the Tax ; an Egyptian relief ..... 12 17. Egyptian Noble Hunting Waterfowl ; a tomb-painting . 14 18. Pyramids and the Sphinx .... Plate V, facing 16 19. Temples of Rameses and of Isis . . Plate VI, facing 17 20. Egyptian Market Scene ; a relief 17 21. Part of Rosetta Stone with hieroglyphs first deciphered . 19 22. Part of Above on a Larger Scale 19 23. Rosetta Stone, as preserved in the British Museum . . 20 24. Egyptian and Roman Numerals 21 25. Offerings to the Dead ; Egyptian tomb-painting Plate VII, facing 22 26. Osiris, Isis, and Hathor (bronze statues) Plate VIII, facing 23 27. Weighing the Soul before the Judges of the Dead Plate Vni, facing 23 28. Sculptured Funeral Couch, picturing the soul by the corpse 23 29. Thfftmosis HI .25 30. Modern Road to Pyramids of Gizeh . Plate IX, facing 26 31. “ Colossi of Memnon.” Two views . . Plate X, facing 27 vii Vlll ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE 32. Babylonian Boundary Stone, 2000 ..... 29 33. Oldest Arch Known (Babylonian) ..... 30 34. Obelisk of Shalmaneser II 32 35. Babylonian Lion (from the “ Sacred Way ”) . . . 34 36. Laws of Hammurapi .35 37. Babylonian “ Deluge Tablet ” and “ Contract Tablet ” Plate XI, facing 36 38. An Assyrian “ Book ” . . . . Plate XII, facing 37 39. Babylonian Cylinder Seals 38 40. Impression from a King’s Seal ...... 39 41. Persian Gold Armlet 43 42. Rehefs from Assyrian Palaces . . Plate XIII, facing 44 43. Frieze of Lions from Palace of Artaxerxes Memnon Plate XIV, facing 45 44. The Land of Goshen To-day 48 45. Vase from Knossos, 2200 b.c 53 46. Palace Sewer at Knossos ....... 54 47. The Vaphio Cups .... Plate XV, facing 54 48. Scroll from the Vaphio Cups . . Plate XVI, facing 55 49. Cretan Writing of 2200 b.c. 55 50. Cretan Cooking Utensils ....... 55 51. Gate of the Lions at Mycenae 56 52. Bronze Dagger from Mycenae, inlaid with gold ... 57 53. Part of the Excavations at Troy ...... 60 54. Zeus ... 66 55. Ruins of Stadium at Olympia and of That at Delphi Plate XVII, facing 68 56. Attic Vase of the Sixth Century b.c 70 57. Ground Plan of the Temple of Theseus at Athens . . 71 58. Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian Columns .... 72 59. A Doric Capital (from the Parthenon) .... 75 60. “ Temple of Theseus ” (so-called) at Athens ... 79 61. Site of Ancient Sparta and the Modern City Plate XVIII, facing 84 62. Vale of Tempe Plate XIX, facing 85 63. Greek Women at Their Music (Scroll from an Attic Vase) . 88 64. Plan of the Battle of Marathon 88 65. Marathon To-day 89 66. Athenian Youth in the Procession in Honor of Athene (from the Parthenon frieze) 97 67. Ruins of the Piraeus Walls 98 68. Bay of Salamis . 102 69. The Acropolis as “ restored ” by Lambert .... 103 ILLUSTRATIONS IX 70. Plan of the Acropolis of Athens .... facing 71. The Acropolis To-day . . . . Plate XX, /acmgr 72. Sophocles (a portrait statue) 73. Theater of Dionysus at Athens To-day Plate XXI, facing 74. Parthenon and Erechtheum To-day . Plate XXII, facing 75. A Restoration of the Parthenon. Colored . . facing 76. Greek Girls at Play (from a -vase painting) 77. Plan of a Fifth-century Greek House . 78. Greek Women at Their Toilet (from a bowl painting) 79. The Wrestlers (after Myron) ~ 80. Greek School Scenes (from a bowl painting) 81. An Athenian Trireme ..... 82. The Hermes of Praxiteles .... 83. Copy of Praxiteles’ Satyr (“ The Marble Faun ”) 84. Theater of Apollo at Delphi 85. Plan of the Battle of Leuctra 86. Philip II of Macedon (from a gold medallion) 87. Alexander the Great (two sides of the medallion of Tarsus) 88. Public Buildings of Pergamos 89. The Apollo Belvedere . 90. Tower of Pharos {Alexandrian Lighthouse) 91. Venus {Aphrodite) of Melos 92. Etruscan Vase 93. Etruscan Tombs at Orvieto 94. Temple of Vesta (so-called) 95. Wall of Servius (so-called) 96. A Coin of Pyrrhus 97. The Appian Way To-day 98. Etruscan Ruins at Sutri . . . Plate XXIII, facing 99. Excavations at Pompeii . . . Plate XXIV, facing 100. Coin of Hiero II of Syracuse 101. The Discus Thrower (Myron) . . Plate XXV, facing 102. Two Views of the Ruins of a Roman Villa Plate XXVI, facing 103. Pompeian Remains: Temple of Apollo; House of the Vettii Plate XXVII, facing 104. Court of a Roman House (Boulanger’s painting) Plate XXVIII, facing 105. A Roman Holiday, with Procession. Colored (a modem painting) facing 106. A Roman Chariot Race (a modern painting) Plate XXIX, facing 107. Views of the Roman Forum To-day . Plate XXX, facing PAGE 106 107 108 108 109 112 115 117 118 121 122 124 126 128 129 131 134 138 140 141 142 143 149 152 153 155 162 166 170 171 177 184 185 188 189 193 200 201 X ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE 108. Julius Caesar (the British Museum bust) .... 206 109. The Theater at Pompeii 208 110. Augustus Caesar (the Vatican statue) ..... 212 111. The Roman Forum and a “ Restoration ” (Benvenuti) Plate XXXI, facing 212 112. The Claudian Aqueduct To-day . . Plate XXXII, /aangr 213 113. The Bronze “ Janus ” Coin of Nero . . . . ‘ . 214 114. Detail from Arch of Titus 215 115. Detail from Trajan’s Column 216 116. Trajan’s Column (commemorating the Dacian conquest) Plate XXXIII, facing 216 117. Triumphal Arch of Titus (showing also the Colosseum) Plate XXXIV, facing 217 118. Ruin of Hadrian’s Temple to Zeus at Athens . . . 218 119. Aqueduct near Nimes, built by Antoninus Pius . . . 220 120. Porta Nigra at Trier (Treves) 222 121. The “ Way of Tombs ” at Pompeii . Plate XXXV, facing 224 122. The Pantheon To-day . . . Plate XXXVI, facing 225 123. Cross-section of the Pantheon ...... 225 124. Marcus Aurelius (the Capitoline bust) .... 227 125. Views of the Colosseum . . Plate XXXVII, facing 228 126. Trajan’s Arch at Beneventum . Plate XXXVIII, facing 229 127. Roman Amphitheater at Nimes . Plate XXXIX, facing 232 128. Serfs in Roman Gaul 234 129. Imperial Body-guard of Germans (Marcus Aurelius) . . 236 130. Arch of Constantine at Rome ...... 239 131. Constantine’s Column at Constantinople .... 241 132. Plan of a Basilica 242 133. Constantine’s Basilica, and a “ Restoration ” Plate XL, facing 242 134. Ruins of the “ Palace of the Caesars ” and Benvenuti’s “ Restoration ” Plate XLI, facing 243 135. Roman Coins 243 136. Tomb of Hadrian (as a memorial of the Vandal sack of Rome) ...... Plate XLII, facing 246 137. A Roman Temple at Nimes (well preserved) . . . 247 138. Silver Coin of Justinian 248 139. Trial by Combat (two views from fifteenth-century MS) . 249 140. Seventh-century Villa (wood) in Gaul, “ restored ” by Par- mentier . . . 250 141. The Abbey of Citeaux 252 142. Saracenic Walls of Jerusalem and the Damascus Gate Plate XLIII, facing 254 ILLUSTRATIONS XI PAGE 143. Court of Lions in the Alhambra . . . Plate XLIV, facing 255 144. Cloisters of St. John Lateran 257 145. Seal of Charlemagne 259 146. Silver Coin of Charlemagne 261 147. Conway Castle 265 148. Remains of a Viking Ship 266 149. St. Martin’s Church (near Canterbury) . 268 150. Plowing, from an Anglo-Saxon Manuscript 268 151. Entrance to a Feudal Castle (after Gautier) 269 152. Bodlam Castle 270 153. Knight in Plate Armor ; from Lacroix . 271 154. Reaper’s Cart ; fourteenth century 274 155. Falconry 275 156. A Court Jester 276 157. Medieval Jugglers in Sword Dance 277 158. The Quintain 278 159. Doorway of Iffley Church (Norman architecture) .... 282 160. Battle of Hastings (Bayeux Tapestry) 284 161. Facsimile of Magna Carta, Sections 39, 40 286 162. Cloisters of Salisbury Cathedral 288 163. An English Family Dinner (MS of fourteenth century) . . 289 164. A Byzant . 295 165. Crusader Taking the Vow 295 166. Siege of a Medieval Town 298 167. Town Hall at Oudenarde (13th century), Plate XLV, facing 298 168. Old Street in Rouen; present condition, Plate XLVl, facing 299 169. A Medieval Cooper’s Shop 300 170. Workshop of fitienne Delaulne (16th-century goldsmith) . 302 171. Flying Buttresses, Norwich Cathedral 304 172. Rheims Cathedral (with explanation of Gothic style) Plate XL VII, facing 304 173. Cathedral at Metz ; interior of the nave Plate XLVIII, facing 305 174. A Bombard (sixteenth-century woodcut) 305 175. A Luxurious English Carriage (fourteenth century) . . . 308 176. Parliament of 1399 310 177. Guy’s Tower 311 178. Joan of Arc at Orleans Plate XLIX, facing 312 179. Salisbury Cathedral Plate L, facing 313 180. Illustration from Fifteenth-century Manuscript (showing historical characters) Plate LI, facing 316 181. Church of St. Sophia, Constantinople . , Plate LII, facing 317 182. Hall of the Clothmakers’ Gild at Ypres 318 xii ILLUSTRATIONS 183. Ca d’Oro at Venice and Ducal Palace . Plate LIII, facing 184. St. Mark’s, Venice .... Plate LIV, facing 185. Erasmus (Holbein) 186. Columbus before Isabella (Brozik). Colored . facing 187. Monk Teaching the Globe (thirteenth century) . PAGE 322 323 323 326 326 MAPS PAGE Ancient Egypt 10 The First Homes of Civilization. Colored . . facing 18 Greatest Extent of the Egyptian Empire . . . .26 Babylonian and Assyrian Empires 33 Lydia, Media, Egypt, Babylonia. Colored . . facing 38 The Persian Empire. Colored .... facing 42 The Empire of Solomon (the Syrian District) ... 50 Greece and the Adjoining Coasts. Colored . . . after 52 The Greek World (showing all Mediterranean coasts). Colored after 70 Attica (with special reference to Marathon and Salamis) . 94 Athens 101 Growth of Macedonia 133 Empire of Alexander (with routes of his campaigns). Colored facing 135 The World according to Eratosthenes (about 250 b.c.) . . 146 Ancient Italy (for general reference). Colored . facing 148 Rome and Vicinity . 150 Rome under the Kings 151 Italy about 200 b.c. (showing Roman colonies and roads) . 168 Pompeii and Vicinity in 79 A.D. . . Plate XXIV, /acmgr 171 Mediterranean Lands at Time of Second Punic War (showing route of Hannibal). Colored after 176 The Roman Empire (showing stages of growth, and main roads). Colored after 218 Rome under the Empire (showing walls of Aurelian) . . 230 Teutonic Kingdoms on Roman Soil, 500 A.D. Colored after 248 Kingdom of the Merovingians. Colored . . facing 253 Europe in 814 A.D. Colored. after 260 Fields of History to 800 A.D. 264 The Division of Verdun (843 a.d.). Colored . facing 265 England and the Danelagh (900 a.d.) . . . facing 268 England and France at Four Periods. Colored . facing 290 German Colonization on the East, 800-1400. Colored facing 292 facing 296 MAP 1. 2. 3. 4. vt. 6. 7. s/8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. Germany and Italy, 1254-1273. Colored XIV MAPS MAP 32. Dominions of the Hansa and Teutonic Knights. Colored after 33. Germany about 1500. Colored ..... after 34. Europe in the Time of Charles V. Colored . facing PAGE 302 314 320 SHORT HISTORY OF EARLY PEOPLES PART I - THE WORLD BEFORE THE GREEKS CHAPTER I MEN BEFORE WRITING The story of man goes back to a time when he was more helpless and brutelike than the lowest savage in the world to- day. His only clothing was the coarse hair that covered his body. He had neither fire nor knife, — no tools or weapons except his hands, his formidable apelike teeth, and chance clubs or stones. Finally some savage discovered that he could chip flakes from a flint stone by striking it with other stones, so as to give it a sharp edge and a convenient shape for the hand to grasp. This invention lifted man into the first Stone Age. In Europe the Stone Age began at least 100,000 years ago. The mighty rivers of still earlier times had washed out many caverns in their limestone banks. As the waters cut down a deeper bed, such caves were left dry, above the new water level ; and they became the favorite shelter of the early Stone-Age man — though he often had to fight for them with Flint Fist-hatchet (six inches long) from Kent’s Cave in Southern England, found in the lowest of several distinct layers of deposits. Such tools have been discovered in nearly all parts of the world. the ferocious cave-bear. By digging in these caves to-day, we find stone tools of the “cave-man” where he dropped them 1 The first men The first Stone Age, 100,000 years ago 2 STONE-AGE MEN The fire-makers Tools of the cave-man And his domestic animals Hunters, not farmers on the earth floor — perhaps thirty or forty feet below the present floor — and remains of great heaps of the bones of the animals he ate. In almost the lowest deposits many pieces of charred bone and wood, and some solid layers of ashes, show that men learned to use fire soon after reaching the Stone Age. With their stone knives, they could shape sticks so as to make Are by friction. With his knife, too, the cave-man could remove the hides from the animals he killed ; and while he dozed by the fire after gorging on their flesh, his cave-woman worked on these skins with stone scrapers. Then when they were cleaned and dried and softened, she sewed them into clothing with bone needles. The early deposits contain no spindles, with which thread could have been spun from vegetable fiber, and so these needles must have been threaded with finely di- vided sinew, such as the Eskimo woman uses to-day. As we examine the layers of deposits from the bottom upward, we find better tools and more kinds of them, until we have a great variety of shapely flint knives, spear-heads, daggers, scrapers, chisels, and drills fine enough to make the delicate eyes in the bone needles. Toward the close of the age, the cave dwellers learned to make clay pots, in which to cook their food in new ways, and to make earthenware lamps, with wicks swimming in fat. Next, bone and stone arrow-heads show that the bow had been invented, to lengthen man’s arm. Man began, too, to make living animals serve him. He tamed the young of wolf or jackal into the first dog; and his drawings show that he taught the reindeer to draw his sled. But through all their tens of thousands of years, the Chipped Stone men were hunters merely. They never learned to farm. Besides the animals they killed, they had for food only the nuts and roots and seeds the women and children gathered. Ivory Needles of the Stone Age. Europe had no better needles until some three hundred years ago. PLATE I Above. — Cliff Caves on the Vez^re, overlooking the modern village Le Moustier in Southern France. From some of the caves whose dark mouths show in this cut have come the oldest remains pictured in this book. One can make out two terraces. The second of these also is rich in remains, because here the ancient hunters had a station, out in the sun, to fashion their flint weapons. More than 150 of these cave homes have been discovered in France and Spain. — From Osborn’s Men of the Old Stone Age. Below. — Mammoth engraved by an Old Stone Age artist on a piece of ivory tusk. Found in a cave in Southern France. — From Parkyn’s Pre- historic Art. The student should examine that work, or Mr. Osborn’s book referred to above, for Cave-Men drawings of the Saber-Toothed Tiger and of the Cave-Bear, and especially for the colored representations of Stone Age paintings, such as cannot be adequately reproduced in a book of this kind. The Stone Age remains in the caves show that the men of that day feasted upon these and other animals now long extinct in Europe. PLATE II Stonehenge. — From Barclay’s Buried Temple. Above are pictured the ruins as they stand to-day. Below is Barclay’s “ restoration.” Stone- henge was a “ temple ” of the New-Stone men on what is now Salisbury Plain in South England. Two miles away is the site of a Stone-Age town, and near by the traces of an ancient two-mile race course, where, no doubt, shouting multitudes jostled one another. Some of these huge blocks (undressed stone) are 30 feet high, and must weigh two hundred tons. This is only the most famous of many such ruins left by the New- Stone men in western Europe. LIFE AND THOUGHTS 3 Their homes were littered with loathsome heaps of rotting refuse. Their numbers must have been scanty, but it seems probable that in places they had learned to combine into groups somewhat larger than the family. No doubt the early groups often drifted slowly north or south with the seasons, in pursuit of their food. If two dif- ferent sorts of men met in such wanderings, they probably fought one another savagely — possibly even hunting one Reindeer graven on stone by a Stone-Age artist. Note the remarkable spirit and accurate detail. The drawing isTull life size. From a cave in Southern France — where the reindeer has been extinct for many thousand years. another’s children for food. The terrifying tales of giants and goblins among all primitive peoples have some such origin. The earliest cave-man must have believed in a life after death ; for he buried the bodies of those he loved and honored under the hearth before which they had rested in life, and in the shallow grave he placed food and precious weapons ready for use when the dead should awake in the spirit world. The caver-man, too, had a keen interest in the world about him, and Ideas of a future life 4 STONE-AGE MEN Cave-artists felt much of its beauty. In stormy seasons he amused him- self by carving on the walls of his cavern or on flat bones. With amazing accuracy he reproduced the fierce wild-boar in the charge, the mare nourishing her foal, a herd of deer brows- ing by a peaceful pool, and countless other animal forms. As Kipling writes, — “Later he pictured an aurochs — later he pictured a bear — Pictured the saber-toothed tiger dragging a man to his lair — Pictured the mountainous mammoth, hairy, abhorrent, alone — Out of the love that he bore them, scribing them clearly on bone.” The second Finally, some ten thousand years ago, some ingenious Stone Age barbarian discovered that he could grind his stone knife with certain stones, and so get keener edge and sharper point than merely by chipping at it. This inven- tion began a new era. The “Old Stone Age,” or age of chipped stone, gave way to the “New Views of a Prehistoric Paint Tube, of reindeer bone. _ ,, Found, with ocher still, in it, in a cave in France. Intone Age. The cave-artist ground fine the red oxide of iron and The ground im- other clays and packed them in hollow horns, from , which to color his drawings. (Cf . legend for the plem^nts are Mammoth after page 2.) — From Parkyn’s Pre/ifs were among the most splendid and wealthy in the world. (Read Ezekiel, xxvi-xxvii, for a mag- nificent description of the grandeur of Tyre and of the wide extent of her commerce.) 1 Two lofty hills, one on each side of the Strait of Gibraltar, beyond which the Ancients generally thought lay inconceivable perils (map after p. 70). 46 THE PHOENICIANS 47 The Phoenicians were the first colonizers. They fringed the larger islands and the shores of the Mediterranean with trading stations, which became new centers of civilization. Carthage, Utica, Gades (Cadiz, on the Atlantic), were among their colonies (map after p. 70). They worked tin mines in Col- chis, in Spain, and finally in Britain, and so made possible the manufacture of bronze on a larger scale than before, to replace stone implements. Probably they first introduced bronze into many parts of Europe. To get things wherewith to trade, the Phoenicians became manufacturers, — learning from Egyptians and Babylonians to work in metals, glass, and textiles. Hammer, loom, potter’s wheel, engraver’s knife, were always busy in Tyre, and quan- tities of their products are found in ancient tombs of Greece and Italy — the earliest European homes of civilization. The Phoenicians were “missionaries” of culture. It was their func- tion not to create civilization, but to spread it. Their chief export, it is well said, was the alphabet. When the Egyptians first conquered Syria, about 1600 b.c., the Phoeni- cians were using the cuneiform script of Babylon (introduced among them by Hammurapi’s conquest). But their commerce made it necessary to keep complicated accounts and to com- municate with agents in distant ports. This called for a sim- pler way of writing; and, about 1100 b.c., we find them with a true alphabet of twenty-two letters — for consonant sounds only — probably derived from Egyptian “sound-symbols.” The Phoenician cities submitted easily, as a rule, to any powerful neighbor. From Babylonia, from Egypt, from Persia, in turn, they bought security by paying tribute in money and in ships. Assyria sought to annihilate the Phoenician cities, as rivals in trade, and did destroy many of them ; but Tyre was saved by her position on a rocky island-promontory. Finally, in 332 b.c., it was captured by Alexander the Great (p. 136). From this downfall the proud city never fully re- covered, and fishermen now spread their nets to dry in the sun on the bare roek where once her tall towers rose. The first colonizers in history Industries Mission- aries of civilization The alphabet Fall of Tyre 48 THE HEBREWS Wandering shepherds The captiv- ity in Egypt II. THE HEBREWS As the Phoenicians were men of the sea, so the early Hebrews were men of the desert. They appear first as wandering shep- herds along the grazing lands on the edge of the Arabian sands. Abraham, the founder of the race, emigrated from “Ur of the Chaldees,” about 2100 b.c. He and his descendants, Isaac and Jacob, lived and ruled as patriarchal chiefs, much as Arab sheiks do in the same regions to-day. Finally, “the famine was sore in the land.” Jacob and his sons, with their tribesmen and flocks, sought refuge in Egypt. Here they found Joseph, one of their brethren, already high AND THEIR MISSION 49 in royal favor. The rulers of Egypt at this time, too, were the Hyksos, themselves originally Arabian shepherds ; and the Hebrews were allowed to settle in the fertile pasturage of Go- shen, near the Red Sea, where flitting Arab tribes have always been wont to encamp. But soon the native Egyptian rule was restored by Theban pharaohs, “who knew not Joseph.” These powerful princes of the New Empire (p. 25) reduced the He- brews to slavery, and employed them on great public works, and “ made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar and in brick and in all manner of service in the field.” Three centuries later, while the Egyptian government was in The Exodus a period of weakness and disorder, the oppressed people escaped to the Arabian desert again, led by the hero Moses. For a man’s lifetime, the fugitives wandered to and fro, after their ancient manner ; but they were now a numerous people and had become accustomed to fixed abodes. About 1250 b.c.. And the under Joshua, to whom Moses had turned over the leadership, conquest of . . Palestine they began to conquer the fertile valleys of Palestine for their home. Then followed two centuries of bloody warfare with their neighbors, some of whom had long before taken on the civilization of Babylonia. During this period the Hebrews remained a loose alliance Under the of twelve shepherd tribes, led by a series of popular heroes, like Samson, Jephthah, Gideon, and Samuel, known as Judges. Much of the time there was great and ruinous disorder, and bands of robbers drove travelers from the highw^ays. Finally, the Philistines for a time overran the land at will. Thus the Hebrews felt the necessity for stronger government. Kings and Saul, a mighty warrior, roused them against the Philistine Prophets spoilers, and led them to victory. In return they made him their first king. Alongside this monarch and his successors, however, there stood religious teachers without office but with great authority. These “prophets” were shepherd preachers, clad perhaps only in the sheepskin of the desert ; but they did not hesitate to rebuke or oppose a sovereign. David, the second king (about 1070-977), completely subdued the Philistines, and, taking shrewd advantage of the fact that 50 THE HEBREWS The king- dom of David Solomon and the Temple (977- 937 B.C.) the great states on the Nile and the Euphrates were both in a period of decay, he raised the Hebrew state into a small empire in western Syria. He will be remembered longest, how- ever, as “the sweet singer of Israel.” He was originally a shepherd boy who attracted Saul’s favor by his beauty and his skill upon the harp ; and, in the most troublous days of his kingship, he sought rest and com- fort in composing songs and poems, which are now in- cluded in the sacred Book of Psalms. David’s son, Solo- mon, built a noble temple at Jerusalem for the worship of Jehovah. Until this time the only sacred shrine of the He- brews had been a portable “Ark,” suited to a primitive and nomad tribe ; and even now they lacked architectural skill to construct large buildings. But Solomon’s ally. King Hiram of Tyre, sent skilled Phoenician builders for the work, and it was completed with great magnificence. Solomon also built rich palaces with his foreign workmen, and copied within them the splendor and luxury of an Oriental court. AND THEIR MISSION 61 The Hebrews now began to grow prosperous — with the usual inequality of great wealth and extreme poverty. And soon the prophets, like Micah and Amos (the first social reformers in history), were denouncing fiercely the fraud and violence of the greedy rich, who “ corrupt judgment ” (in law cases) and “ grind the faces of the poor.” The punishment for the nation, which they foretold, was already on the way. Solomon’s reign closed the brief age of 'political greatness for the Hebrews. The twelve tribes had not come to feel themselves really one nation. They had been divided into two groups in earlier times ; ten tribes in one group ; two in the other. The “ten tribes” now held the north, the more fertile part of Pales- tine, with numerous cities. The “two tribes,” in the rugged south, were still largely -shepherds and herdsmen. David had belonged to the smaller group, and his early kingship had 1 of his house had smoldered all along among the ten tribes. ' Now came a final separation. Solomon’s taxes had sorely burdened the people. On his death, the ten tribes petitioned i his son for relief, and when the young king (Rehoboam) replied with haughty insult, they set up for themselves as the Kingdom of Israel, with a capital at Samaria. The tribes of Benjamin and Judah remained faithful to the house of David, and became the Kingdom of Judah, wJth the old capital, Jerusalem. The Kingdom of Israel lasted 250 years, until Sargon carried the ten tribes into that Assyrian captivity in which they are “lost” to history (p. 31). Judah lasted four centuries after the separation, most of the time tributary to Assyria or to Babylon. Finally, in punishment for rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar carried away the people into the Babylonian captivity (p. 33). When the Persians conquered Babylon, they showed special favor to the Jews, and the more zealous of the race returned to Judea. From this time, such control of their own affairs as was left to them by Persia was in the hands of the priests, led by the High Priest of the Temple. At this time the sacred writings of the Hebrews — our “ Old Testament ” — were recopied and arranged in their present form. (In the Division and decline The captivities Priestly rule 52 THE HEBREWS eighth century the Hebrews had borrowed an alphabet from the Phoenicians.) The Hebrews added nothing to material civilization, nor did they contribute directly to any art. Their work was higher. Their religious literature was the noblest the world had seen, and it has passed into all the literatures of the civilized world ; but even this is valuable not so much for its literary merit as for its moral teachings. The true history of the Hebrews is the record of their spiritual growth. Their religion was infinitely purer and truer than any other of the ancient world. At first this lofty faith belonged to only a few — to the pa- triarchs, and later to the prophets, with a small following of the more spiritually minded of the nation. For a thousand years the common people, and some of the kings, were con- stantly falling away into the superstitions of their Syrian neigh- bors. But it is the supreme merit of the Hebrews that a rem- nant always clung to the higher religion, until it became the universal faith of that “chosen” and sifted people who, after the Babylonian captivity, found their way back to Judea through so many hardships. Suggestions for Review Let the class prepare review questions, each member five or ten, to ask of the others. Criticize the questions, showing which ones help to bring out important facts and contrasts and likenesses, and which are merely trivial or curious. It is well to make lists of important names or terms for rapid drill, demanding brief but clear explanation of each term, i.e. cuneiform, shekel, Hyksos, 'papyrus. Sample Questions: (1) In what did the Egyptians excel the Babylo- nians? (2) In what did the Babylonians excel the Egyptians ? (3} In what did the Persians excel both? (4) Trace the growth of the map for civilized countries. (5) Locate four centers of civilization for 1500 B.C., and observe, on the map, where they would most naturally come in contact with one another. (6) What new center became promi- nent between 1700 and 1000 b.c.? (One more center for that age — Crete — is yet to be treated.) Caution: Make sure that the terms “empire,';' “state,” “tributary state,” “civilization,” have a definite meaning for the student. PART II— THE GREEKS Greece — that point of light in history ! — Hegel. We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our art have their roots in Greece. — Shelley. CHAPTER VI AEGEAN CIVILIZATION, 3500-1200 B.C. At least as early as 3500 b.c. slim, short, dark-skinned men in the New-Stone stage, were living in round-hut villages on the shores and islands of the eastern Mediterranean. Especially about the Aegean Sea with its clustering islands, these men were making a graceful pottery charmingly decorated, and had de- veloped considerable trade. About 3000 b.c. these Aegeans learned the use of bronze from Egypt, and, having once begun, they soon drew many other gifts and hints from the Oriental states, to which they were so near. In the early period, leadership in the Aegean fell naturally to Crete. Old Greek legends represent that island as a leading source of Greek civilization and as the home of powerful kings long before the Greek tribes on the mainland rose out of barbar- Knossos ism ; and recent excavations prove that these legends are based on truth. Crete stretches its long body across the mouth of the Aegean, and forms a natural stepping-stone from Egypt to Europe. By 2500 B.c. it had advanced far into the Bronze Age, and for 53 (2200 B.C.), with sea-life ornament. Aegean culture, 3500 B.C Cretan leadership 54 THE EARLY GREEKS Remains at Knossos of 2200 B.C. The palace of Minos the next thousand years its civilization rivaled that of Egypt itself. Hand-made pottery gave way to admirable work on the potter’s wheel; and the vase-paintings, of birds and beasts and plant and sea life, are more lifelike than anything in Egyptian art. The walls of the houses were decorated with a delicate “eggshell” porcelain, in artistic designs. At Knossos, a palace, built about 2200 B.C., has been unearthed, spreading over more than four acres of ground, with splendid halls, corridors, living rooms, throne rooms, and treasure rooms, and with many frescoes depict- ing the brilliant life of the lords and ladies of the court. Especially amaz- ing are the bathrooms, with a drainage system “superior to anything in Europe until the nine- teenth century. ” The pipes could be flushed ; Mouth of Palace Sewer at Knossos, and a man-trap permitted with terracotta drain pipes. inspection and repair. Back of the Queen’s apartments stood a smaller room with a baby’s bath. (Recent excavations show such systems in still older Egyptian temples.) This palace is usually called the palace of “King Minos.” Minos was famed by the later Greeks as a great Cretan lawgiver. We may think of him ruling widely over the surrounding seas from his throne at Knossos, while Hammurapi was issuing his code of laws at Babylon, or while some one of the beneficent pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom was constructing the Egyp- tian irrigation works, or about the time when Abraham set out from Ur of the Chaldees. In the treasure rooms of the palace at Knossos, there were PLATE XV HE Vaphio Cups, found in 1889 a.d. at Vaphio in the Peloponnesus, but probably of Cretan origin and dating back to about 2000 b.c. The two cups, of beaten gold with delicate but vigorous ornament, are about the size of ordinary coffee cups. PLATE XVI HE Scroll from the Vaphio Cups : stages in netting and taming wild bulls for the plow. The bull was a favorite subject in Cretan art. Cf. the story of Theseus and the Minotaur in Hawthorne’s Tanglewood Tales. Probably this goldsmith work has never been excelled- CRETAN CIVILIZATION 55 found numbers of small clay tablets covered with writing — appar- ently memoranda of the receipt of taxes. These, and other such remains since discovered, show that the Cretans had developed a system of syllabic writing, based on Egyptian sound sym- bols, but more advanced. Un- happily scholars have not yet learned to read it. A Roman historian who wrote a little before the birth of Christ men- tions that in his day the Cre- tans claimed that their ances- tors had invented the alphabet, and that the Phoenicians had only made it better known. Modern Cretans had forgotten this claim ; but these recent dis- coveries give it much support. Each home wove its own cloth, as we learn from the loom- weights in every house. Each home, too, had its stone mortars A Cretan alphabet Cretan Writing of 2200 b.c. — Plainly ' some of these characters are numerals. Others resemble later Greek letters. Tools and utensils Cooking Utensils of 2200 b.c., found in one tomb at Knossos. 56 THE EARLY GREEKS Mycenae “ rich in gold ” for grinding the daily supply of meal. Kitchen utensils were varied and numerous, and strangely modern in shape. Most cooking was done over an open fire of sticks — though sometimes there was a sort of recess in a hearth, over which a kettle stood. When the destroying foe came upon Knossos, one carpenter left his kit of tools hidden under a stone slab, which preserved them ; and among them we find saws, hammers, adz, chisels heavy and light, awls, nails, files, and axes. They are of bronze. The Gate op the Lions at Mycenae. — ■ The huge stone at the top of the gate, supporting the lions, is 15 feet long and 7 feet thick. Enemies could reach the gate only by passing between long stone walls — from behind which archers could shoot down upon them. of course, but in shape they are so like our own that it seems probable that this handicraft passed down its skill without a break from the earliest European civilization to the present. One huge crosscut saw, like our lumberman’s, was found in a mountain town. Crete did not stand by itself in its culture. The Greeks of the historical period had many legends about the glories of an older Mycenae “rich in gold.” And there, in Argolis, some fifty years ago an explorer uncovered remains of an ancient PROGRESS BEFORE HOMER 57 city of perhaps 1200 b.c., with peculiar, massive (“ Cyclopean”) walls. Within were found a curious group of tombs where lay in state the embalmed bodies of ancient kings, — “ in the splendor of their crowns and breastplates of embossed plate of gold; their swords studded with golden imagery; their faces covered strangely in golden masks. The very floor of one tomb was thick with gold dust — the heavy gilding from some perished kingly vestment. In another was a downfall of golden leaves and flowers. And amid this profusion of fine fragments were rings, bracelets, . . . dainty butterflies for ornaments, and a wonderful golden flower on a silver stalk.” For Further Reading. — Specially suggested : Davis’ Readings, I, No. 32, gives an interesting extract from an account of Cretan re- mains by one of the discoverers. Additional, for students who wish wider reading : Hawes, Crete the Fore-runner of Greece; or Baikie, Sea Kings of Crete. Bronze Dagger from Mycenae, inlaid with gold. — This dagger was prominent in the “ Greek Exhibit ” sent to America by the Greek govern- ment just after the World War and shown in various of our cities. CHAPTER VII Barbarian Achaeans from the north Troy and the Homeric poems THE GREEKS OF HOMER About 1500 B.c. bands of tall, fair-haired, blue-eyed, semi- barbarous Achaeans from the north, drawn by the splendor and riches of the south, broke into the Aegean lands, as northern barbarians many times since have broken into southern Europe. Some fortunate chance had given these mighty-limbed strangers a knowledge of iron ; and now, armed with long iron swords, and bringing their flocks and herds, with their women and children in rude carts drawn by horses, they established them- selves among the short, dark, bronze-weaponed natives, became their masters, dwelt in their cities, married their women, and possessed the land. This occupation was a slow process, working unrecorded misery on generation after generation of the gentler natives. For the most part, the newcomers filtered in, band by band, seizing a valley or an island at a time. Occasionally, however, large armies warred long and desperately about some strong- hold of the old civilization. Knossos had never had walls ; it had trusted for defense to its position on an island and to its sea-power ; and it fell early before fleets of Achaean sea- rovers. In walled cities like Mycenae, the old culture lived on three or four centuries more. The legends of the Trojan War were probably based on one of the closing struggles. Our knowledge of the Achaeans comes largely from the so- called “Homeric poems,” the Iliad and the Odyssey. The later Greeks believed that these were composed about 1000 b.c. by a blind minstrel named Homer. Scholars now think that each collection was made up of many ballads sung originally by different bards at different times and handed down orally from father to son for centuries before they were put into writ- ing. The Iliad describes part of a ten-year siege of Troy by 58 ' HOMER’S “ACHAEANS” 59 Achaean chieftains from all parts of Greece. The Odyssey tells the adventures and wanderings of Odysseus (Ulysses), one of the heroes, in the return from that war. Whether or not there was a Trojan War, the poems certainly tell us much about the customs and ideas of the Greeks of 1100 b.c. ; and their pictures of Greek life have been confirmed by recent exca- vation of remains in the soil. The first explorer in this field, of excavation in Greek lands Schlie- was Dr. Henry Schliemann. When Schliemann was a child in a ^ German village, his father told him the Homeric stories, and once showed him a fanciful picture of the huge “ Walls of Troy. ” The child was told that no one now knew just where Troy had stood, and that the city had left no traces ; but he insisted that such walls must have left remains that could be uncovered by digging ; and his father playfully agreed that sometime Henry should find them. Later, the boy heard that the learned scholars of his day did not believe that “Troy” had ever existed. This aroused in him a fierce resentment ; and to carry out his childhood dream of finding the great walls of Homer’s city be- came the passion of his life. In 1870, after many years spent in winning the necessary Excavations wealth and learning. Dr. Schliemann began excavations at a little village in “Troy-land,” on a mound of earth three miles inland from the shore. The explorations continued more than twenty year^ and disclosed the remains of nine distinct towns, one above another. The oldest, on native rock, some fifty feet below the present surface, was a rude village of the Stone Age. The second, thought by Schliemann to be Homer’s Troy, showed powerful walls, a citadel that had been de- stroyed by fire, and a civilization marked by bronze weapons and gold ornaments. We know now that this city belonged to the early Cretan age, and that it passed away more than a thousand years before Homer’s time. Above it came the •remains of three inferior settlements, and then — the sixth layer from the bottom — a much larger and finer city, which had perished in conflagration some 1100 or 1200 years before Christ. Explorations, after Schliemann’s death, proved this 60 EARLY GREEKS . sixth city to be the Troy described so fully in the Iliad. (Above this Homeric Troy came an old Greek city, a magnificent city of the time of Alexander the Great, a Roman city, and, finally, the squalid Turkish village of to-day. The position of these towns commanded the trade between the Black Sea regions and the Aegean. This accounts, probably, for the succession A Small Part of thr Excavations at Troy. Achaeans and Aegeans blend into “ Greeks.” of cities there, and perhaps for the destruction of some of them in war by trade-rivals.) The tall, fair, yellow-haired Achaeans of the Homeric poems left no trace among the Greeks of history a few centuries later. Their blood was absorbed into that of the more numerous and better-acclimated Aegeans among whom they settled, and the Greeks of later history were short and dark. But first the Achaeans had imposed their language on the conquered people,^ 1 Some Aegean words survived in the later Greek. Thus the Greek word for bath-tub comes from the older language. What fact in civilization is suggested by this fact in language ? HOMER’S “ACHAEANS 61 as conquerors usually do. The change in language, and the ignorance of the invading barbarians, explains the loss of the Aegean art of writing — which probably had been known only to a small class of scribes. Most of the art and refinement of the old civilization also perished. But much of the customs and beliefs of the common people survived, to mingle with those of the conquerors. When Achaeans and Aegeans had blended into “Greeks” (1100 or 1000 B.C.), they were made up of many tribes. Each tribe was composed of people living in one neighborhood and believing in a common ancestor. A tribe was made up of clans (gentes). A clan was a group of real kindred, a sort of enlarged family. The nearest descendant of the forefather of the clan, counting from oldest son to oldest son, was the clan- elder, — a kind of “ priest-king” ; and the clan-elder of the lead- ing clan in the tribe was the tribal “priest-king.” The tribe usually settled in separate clan villages in the valleys about some convenient hill. On the hilltop was the meeting place of the whole tribe for worship ; and a ring wall, at a con- venient part of the slope, easily turned this sacred place into a citadel. In hilly Greece many of these citadels grew up near to- gether; and so, very early, groups of tribes combined further. This made a city. The chief of the leading tribe then became the priest-king of the city. The later Athenians had a tradition that in very early times the hero Theseus founded their city by bringing together four tribes living in Attica. If the cities could have combined into larger units, Greece might have become a “nation-state, like modern England or France. But the Greeks, in the time of their glory, never got beyond a city-state. To them the same word meant “ city ” and “state.” To each Greek, his city was his country. The political ^ relations of one city with another five miles away were foreign relations, as much as its dealings with the king of Persia. Wars, therefore, were constant. 1 “Political” mean.s “relating to government.” Tribe and clan Tribal cita- dels grow into cities 62 HOMER’S GREEKS Govern- ment of the early city- state The Assembly Each city, like each of the old tribes, had a king, a council of chiefs, and a popular assembly. The king was leader in war, judge in peace, and priest at all times ; but his power was much limited by custom. The council of chiefs were originally the clan elders and the members of the royal family. Socially they were the king’s equals ; and in government he could not do anything in defiance of their wish. The common freemen came together for worship and for games ; and sometimes the king called them together, to listen to plans that had been adopted by him and the chiefs. There the freemen shouted approval or muttered disapproval. They could not start new movements. There were no regular meet- ings and few spokesmen ; and the general reverence for the chiefs made it a daring deed for a common man to brave them. However, even in war, when the. authority of the nobles was greatest, the Assembly had to be persuaded: it could not he ordered} Homer shows that sometimes a common man ven- tured to oppose the “kings.” In an Assembly of the army before Troy, the discouraged Greeks break away to launch their ships and return home. Odysseus hurries among them, and by persuasion and threats forces them back to the Assembly, until only Thersites bawls on, — “ Thersites, uncontrolled of speech, whose mind was full of words wherewith to strive against the chiefs. Hateful was he to Achilles above all, and to Odys- seus, for them he was wont to revile. But now with shrill shout he poured forth his uphraidings even upon goodly Agamemnon” [the chief commander of the Greeks]. Odysseus, it is true, rebukes Thersites sternly and smites him into silence, while the crowd laughs. “Homer” sang to please the chieftains. ^ King, Council of Chiefs, and popular Assembly were the germs of later monarchic, oligarchic, and democratic government. A monarchy, in the first meaning of the word, is a state ruled by one man, a “monarch.” An oli- garchy is a state ruled by a “few,” or by a small class. A democracy is a state where the whole people govern. In ancient history the words are used with these meanings. Sometimes “aristocracy” is used with much the same force as “ oligarchy.” (In modern times the word “monarchy ” is used some- times of a government like England, which is monarchic only in form, but which really is a democracy.) SOCIETY AND LIFE 63 his patrons, — and so he represents Thersites as a cripple, ugly and unpopular ; but there must have been popular opposition to the chiefs, now and then, or the minstrel would not have mentioned such an incident at all. Society was simple. When the son of Odysseus, in the poem, visits a city where some of the old Mycenean greatness survives, he is astounded by the splendor of the palace, with its “ gleam as of sun and moon,” lighted as it was by torches held by massive golden statues, — the walls blazing with bronze and with glit- tering friezes of blue glass. Mighty Odysseus had built his palace with his own hands, and it has been well called — from the poet’s description — “a rude farmhouse, where swine wallow in the court. ” The one petty island, too, in which Odysseus was head-king, held scores of yet poorer “kings.” So, too, when Odysseus is shipwrecked on an island, he finds the daughter of the chief king — the princess Nausicaa — doing a washing, with her band of maidens, treading out the dirt by trampling the clothes with their bare feet in the water of a running brook, much as the peasants of southern Europe do to-day. Manners were harsh. In the Trojan War, when the Trojan hero. Hector, fell, the Greek kings gathered about the dead body, “and no one came who did not add his wound.” The commonest boast was to have given a foe’s body to be half devoured by the packs of savage dogs that hung about the camp for such morsels. The chiefs were borne to the combat in chariots. They were clad in bronze armor, and fought with bow and spear. A battle was little more than a series of single combats between these warriors. The common freemen followed on foot, without armor or effective weapons, and counted for little except to kill the wounded and strip the slain. The mass of the people were small farmers, though their houses were grouped in villages. Even the kings tilled their farms, in part at least, with their own hands. Odysseus boasts that he can drive the oxen at the plow and “cut a clean fur- row” ; and when the long days begin he can mow all day with the crooked scythe, “ pushing clear until late eventide. ” There A simple society Rude and harsh Life and work 64 HOMER’S GREEKS Religion of the clan And of the home had appeared a class of miserable landless freemen (perhaps descended from dispossessed Aegean farmers) who hired them- selves to farmers. When the ghost of Achilles (the invincible Greek chieftain) wishes to name to Odysseus the most unhappy lot among mortals, he selects that of the hired servant (p. 66). Slaves were few, except about the great chiefs. There they served as household servants and as farm hands ; and they seem to have been treated kindly. When Odysseus returned from, his twenty years of war and wandering, he made himself known first to a faithful swineherd and to one other slave — and “they threw their arms round wise Odysseus and passionately kissed his face and neck. So likewise did Odysseus kiss their heads and hands.” Artisans and smiths were found among the retainers of the great chiefs. They were highly honored, but their skill was far inferior to that of the Aegean age. Some shields and inlaid weapons of that earlier period had passed into the hands of the Achaeans ; and these were always spoken of as the work of Hephaestus, the god of fire and of metal work. A separate class of traders had not arisen. The chiefs, in the intervals of farm labor, turned to trading voyages now and then, and did not hesitate to increase their profits hy 'piracy. It was no offense to ask a stranger whether he came as a pirate or for peaceful trade {Odyssey, in, 60-70). The clan religion was a worship of clan ancestors. If pro- vided with pleasing meals at proper times and invoked with magic formulas (so the belief ran), the mighty ghosts of ancient clan elders would continue to aid their children. The clan tomb was the altar. Milk and wine were poured into a hollow in the ground, while the clan elder, the only lawful priest, spoke sacred formulas inviting the dead to eat. In like manner, the families of the clan each came to have its separate worship of ancestors. The hearth was the family altar. Near it were grouped the Penates, or images of household gods who watched over the family. The father was the priest. Before each meal, he poured out on the hearth the libation, or food-offering, to the family gods and asked their blessing. RELIGION 65 Originally, no doubt, the family tomb was under the hearth. (Cf. the Cave Men, p. 3.) This explains why the hearth became an altar, and why food offerings to ancestors continued to be made there all through Greek and Roman history. But the religion of which we hear most in Greek literature grew out of a nature worship. The lively fancy of the Greeks personified the forces of nature in the forms and characters of men and women — built in a somewhat more majestic mold than human men. The great gods lived on cloud- capped Mount Olympus, and" passed their days in feasting and laughter and other pleas- ures. When the chief god, Zeus, slept, things sometimes went awry, for other gods plotted against his plans. His wife Hera was exceedingly jealous — for which she had much reason — and the two had many a family wrangle. Some of the gods went down to aid their favorites in war, and were wounded by human vveapons. The twelve great Olympian deities were (Latin names in parentheses) : Zeus (Jupiter), the supreme god; god of the sky; "father of gods and men.” Poseidon (Neptune), god of the sea. Apollo, the sun god; god of wisdom, poetry, prophecy, and medicine. Ares (Mars), god of war. Hephaestus (Vulcan), god of fire — the lame smith. Hermes (Mercury), god of the wind; messenger; god of cunning, of thieves, and of merchants. Hera (Juno), sister and wife of Zeus; queen of the sky. Athene (Minerva), goddess of wisdom; female counterpart of Apollo. Artemis (Diana), goddess of the moon, of maidens, and of hunting. Aphrodite (Venus), goddess of love and beauty. The Olympian religion 66 HOMER’S GREEKS Ideas of a futixre life Demeter (Ceres), the earth goddess — controlling fertility. Hestia (Vesta), the deity of the home; goddess of the hearth fire. All the world about was peopled, in Greek imagination, by a multitude of lesser local gods and demigods — spirits of spring and wood and river and hill — all of whom, too, were personi- fied as glorious youths or maidens. To give the gods beautiful human forms, rather than the revolting bodies of lower animals and reptiles, was an advance, even though it fell far short of the noble religious ideas of the Hebrews and Persians. As to the future life the Greeks believed in a place of terrible punishment {Tartarus) for a few great offenders against the gods, and in an Elysium of supreme pleasure for a very few others particularly favored by the gods. But for the mass of men the future life was to be ‘‘ a washed-out copy of the brilliant life on earth” — its pleasures and pains both shadowy. Thus Odys- seus tells how he met Achilles in the home of the dead : “And he knew me straightway, when he had drunk the dark blood [of a sacrifice to the dead] ; yea, and he wept aloud, and shed big tears as he stretched forth his hands in his longing to reach me. But it might not be, for he had now no steadfast strength nor power at all in moving, such as was aforetime in his supple limbs. . . . But lo, other spirits of the dead that be departed stood sorrowing, and asked concerning those that were dear to them.” And in their talk, Achilles exclaims sorrowfully: “Nay, speak not comfortably to me of death, O great Odysseus. Rather would I live on ground as the hireling of another, even with a lack-land man who had no great livelihood, than hear sv)ay among all the dead.” For Further Reading. — Specially suggested : Davis’ Readings, I, Nos. 33-39. Additional: Bury, pp. 69-79. The legends of heroes and demigods, like Hercules, Theseus, and Jason, are retold charmingly for young people by Hawthorne, Gayley, Guerber, and Kingsley. CHAPTER VIII I FROM THE TROJAN TO THE PERSIAN WAR . I 1000-500 B.C. I. THE DORIANS AND NEW GREEK MIGRATIONS j About 1000 B.C. Greek civilization was checked again, for a hundred years, by invasions from the north. The new bar- barians called themselves Dorians. They were probably merely a rear-guard of the Achaean invasion, delayed somewhere in ' the north for two or three centuries. But in this interval j they had come to fight as heavy-armed infantry in close ranks, I with long spears projecting from the array of shields. The I Achaeans, who fought still in loose Homeric fashion, could not J stand against this disciplined onset. The Dorians settled mainly in the Peloponnesus ; and that 1 district (the old center of ' both Aegean and Achaean glory) ^ lost its leadership in all but war. When civilization took a j new start among the Greeks, soon after 900 b.c., it was from ' new centers, especially in Attica and in Asia Minor. The peninsula of Attica, guarded on the land side by rugged mountains, was the one part of southern Greece not overrun 1 by the Dorians. The Greeks there had come to call themselves I lonians. Many fugitives from the Peloponnesus sought refuge in Attica. But Attica could not support all the new- I comers ; and, after a brief stay, many passed on across the Aegean, to the coast of Asia Minor. There they established I themselves in twelve great cities, of which the most important j were Miletus and Ephesus (map after 52). All the middle ' district of that coast took the name Ionia, and looked upon I Ionian Athens as a mother-city. Other Greek tribes soon colo- I nized the rest of the eastern Aegean coast. ; While the Greeks were so dispersing in space, they were ■ 67 The Dorian conquest And other migrations lonians in Attica Coloniza- tion of the coast of Asia Minor 68 THE GREEKS, 1000-500 B.C. Oneness of feeling among all Hellenes Due to language And to Religion The Olym- pic games beginning to grow together in feeling. They remained in wholly separate “states”; but they had come to believe in a kinship with one another, to take pride in their common civili- zation, and to set themselves apart from the rest of the world. The chief forces which had created this oneness of feeling were (1) language and literature, and (2) the Olympian religion. 1. The Greeks understood one another’s dialects, while the men of other speech about them they called “Barbarians,” or babblers (Bar'-bar-oi). This likeness of language made it possible for all Greeks to possess the same literature. The poems of “ Homer” were sung and recited in every village for centuries. 2. The religious features that helped especially to bind Greeks together were the Olympic Games and the Delphic Oracle. To some great festivals of the gods, men flocked from all Hellas. This was especially true of the Olympic games. These were celebrated each fourth year at Olympia, in Elis, in honor of Zeus. The contests consisted of foot races, chariot races, wrestling, and boxing. The victors were felt to have won the highest honor open to any Greek. They received merely an olive wreath at Olympia ; but at their homes their victories were commemorated by inscriptions and statues. Only Greeks could take part in the contests, and wars between Greek states were commonly suspended during the month of the festival. To these games came merchants, to secure the best market for rare wares. Heralds proclaimed treaties there — as the best way to make them known through all Hellas. As civiliza- tion grew, poets, orators, and artists gathered there ; and gradually the intellectual contests and exhibitions became the most important feature of the meeting. The oration or poem or statue which was praised by the crowds at Olympia had received the approval of the most select and intelligent judges that could be brought together anywhere in the world. The four-year periods between the games were called Olym- piads. These periods Anally became the Greek units in count- ing time ; all events were dated from what was believed to be the first recorded Olympiad, beginning in 776 b.c. PLATE XVII Above. — Ruins op Entrance to the Stadium at Olympia, passing from the Temple of Zeus. Below. — Ruins op the Stadium at Delphi. — The festival there in honor of Apollo was second only to the Olympic Games. ART AND SCIENCE 69 Apollo, the sun god, was also the god of prophec'y. His chief temple was at Delphi, far up the slopes of Parnassus, amid wild and rugged scenery. From a fissure in the ground, within the temple, volcanic gases poured forth. A priestess would inhale the gas until she seemed to pass into a trance, and, while in this state, she was supposed to see into the future by the aid of the god. The advice of this “oracle” was sought hy men and by governments throughout all Hellas. II. INDUSTRY, ART, AND SCIENCE After the overthrow of the Cretan sea-kings and the ruin of the Cretan civilization, about 1500 b.c., Phoenicia for a thou- sand years was almost the only sea-power of the Mediterranean. Along the Greek coasts and islands her traders bartered with the inhabitants (much as European traders did three centuries ago with American Indians), tempting th^ to high payments for strange wares — lions and other beasts carved in little ivory ornaments, purple robes, blue-glass bottles, or perhaps merely colored glass trinkets — and counting it best gain of all if they could lure curious maidens aboard their black ships for distant slave markets. In return, they made many an unintended payment. Language shows that they gave the Greeks the names, and so no doubt the use, of linen, cinnamon, soap, lyres, cosmetics, and tablets. The forgotten art of writ- ing, too, they introduced again. But the lively Greeks were not slavish imitators. They added vowel letters to the Phoenician signs, and so first completed the alphabet. Soon they began to manufacture the Phoenician trade articles for themselves, and finally they became successful rivals in trade. About 800 B.G. the Greeks entered on a new colonizing move- ment, which continued two hundred years (800-600 b.c.), and doubled the area of Greek settlement. The cause, this time, was not war. The new colonies were founded largely for trad- ing stations, — to capture trade from the Phoenicians, — and at the same time to provide the crowded and discon- The Delphic Oracle Phoenician influence Greek col- onies after 8oo B.C. 70 THE GREEKS BEFORE 500 B.C. Growth of manufac- tures tented farming class with new land. Miletus sent colony after colony to the north shore of the Black Sea, to control the corn grain trade there. Sixty Greek towns fringed that sea and its straits. The one city of Chalcis, in Euboea, planted thirty-two colonies on the Thracian coast, to secure the gold and silver mines of that region. On the west, Sicily became almost wholly Greek, and southern Italy took the proud name of Magna Graecia (Great Greece). Among the more im- portant of the colonies were Syracuse in Sicily, Tarentum, Syharis, and Croton in Italy, Corcyra near the mouth of the Adriatic, Massilia (Mar- seilles) in Gaul, Olynthus in Thrace, Cyrene in Africa, Byzantium at the Black Sea’s mouth, and Nau- cratis in Egypt (p. 27). The colonists ceased to be citizens in their old homes. Each new city enjoyed complete inde- pendence. It kept a strong friendship for its “metropolis” (mother city) ; but there was no political union between them. While trade was sowing cities along the distant Mediterranean shores, it also brought an industrial revival in old Greece. The ships that sailed forth from Athens or Corinth or Miletus carried metal work, vases, and textiles, and brought home, from the Black Sea regions, amber, fish, grain, and sometimes products of the distant East that had reached the Black Sea by caravan. To keep up a supply for the export trade, the Greek artisans had to produce more and more, and more and more improve their products — as with Phoenicia earlier. Attic Vase, Sixth Century b.c-, now in Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The fig- ures picture scenes from a battle of gods with giants. ART AND SCIENCE 71 In Athens one large section of the city was given wholly to great factories in which beautiful pottery was made (see “ Ceramicus” in the plan of Athens, p. 101) ; and vases of this period, signed by artists in these factories, are unearthed to-day all the way from central Asia Minor to northern Italy. Oriental vase-painting had delighted in forms half-human, half-beast, as Oriental sculpture did. But Greeks now dropped all unnatural features from their art — first of all peoples — and found increasing satisfaction in depicting the beauty of the human body, with or without draperies. The artist first colored the vase black, and then painted his designs in red on Vase- paintings and what they teach Ground Plan of the Temple of Theseus at Athens (p. 79). that background. He began, too, to see how to draw figures in perspective, and a growing interest in everyday life is shown by an increasing proportion of scenes from the work and play jij of common men. (See cuts, pp, 97, 115, 124, etc.) i: About 600, architecture made marked advance, and began Architecture ||| to show a character distinct from that of Egyptian archi- i^tecture — - on which it was founded. Its chief use was in build- f;^ ing temples for the gods, rather than in palaces as in the Cretan '! age. In every Greek city, through the rest of Greek his- l! tory, the temples were the most beautiful and most noticeable ji structures. j, The plan of the Greek temple was very simple. People did I not gather within the building for service, as in our churches 72 THE GREEKS BEFORE 500 B.C. Poetry nor did troops of priests live there, as in Oriental temples. The inclosed part of the building, therefore, was small and rather dark. — containing only one or two rooms, for the statues of the god and the altar and the safe-keeping of the offerings. It was merely the god’s house, where people could bring him offerings when they wished to ask favors. The temple was rectangular. The roof projected beyond the inclosed part of the building, and was supported not by walls, but by 0 row of columns running around the four sides. The ga- bles {'pediments) in front and rear were low, and were filled with relief statuary, as was also the frieze, between the cor- nice and the columns. Sometimes there was a second frieze upon the walls of the building in- side the colonnade. The building took much of its beauty from its colon- nades. The hint was taken from Egypt ; but the Greeks far surpassed all previous builders in the use of the column The chief differences in the 1, shaft; 2, capital ; 3, frieze; 4, cornice; 5, part of roof, showing low slope. and in shaping the column itself. styles of architecture 'were marked hy the columns and their capitals. According to differences in these features, a building is said to belong to the Doric or. Ionic “order.” Later there was developed a Corinthian order. (See cuts herewith, and on pp. 75, 79, 218, and Plates XXII, XXVII.) In poetry there was more progress even than in architecture. The earliest Greek poetry had been made up of ballads, cele- brating wars and heroes. These ballads were stories in verse. ART AND SCIENCE 73 sung by wandering minstrels. The greatest of such composi- tions rose to e'pic poetry, of which the Iliad and Odyssey are the noblest examples. Their period is called the Epic Age. In the seventh and sixth centuries, most poetry consisted of odes and songs in a great variety of meters. Love and pleasure are the favorite themes, and the poems describe the feelings of the writer rather than the deeds of some one else. These poems were intended to be sung to the accompaniment of the lyre (a sort of harp). They are therefore called lyrics ; and the seventh and sixth centuries are known as the Lyric Age. Pindar, the greatest of many great lyric poets, came from Boeotia. He delighted especially to celebrate the rushing chariots and glorious athletes of the Olympic games. Sappho, of Lesbos, wrote exquisite love songs, of which a few fragments survive. The ancients were wont to call her “the poetess,” just as they referred to Homer as “the poet.” Two other poets of this age represent another kind of poetry. One was The.spis, at Athens, who wrote the first plays. The other, Hesiod of Boeotia (about 800 b.c.), wove together into a long poem old stories of the creation and of the birth and relationship of the gods (the Theogony), and wrote also remark- able home-like poems on farm life {Works and Hays) which made a sort of textbook on agriculture (Davis’ Readings). Hesiod was himself a hard-toiling farmer, and his pictures of the dreary life of a Greek peasant help us to understand the colonizing movement of his time. In Ionia, in the sixth century b.c., men first began fearlessly Philosophy to try to explain the origin of the universe. Thales, of Miletus, taught that all things came from water : that is, from the condensation of an original all-pervading moisture. One of his disciples affirmed that the world had evolved from a fiery ether. Another taught that the higher animal forms had developed from lower forms. These explanations were merely daring guesses ; but the great thing is that men should have begun to think about natural causes at all, in place of the old, supposed supernatural causes, for all that happens. Thales 74 THE GREEKS BEFORE 500 B.C. The kings go Class struggles argued that the movements of sun and stars were determined, not by the whims of gods who dwelt in them, as people thought, but by fixed natural law ; and he proved his argument by pre- dicting an eclipse of the sun — which came off as he had fore- told. (He had visited Egypt ; and some writers guess that he had had access to the astronomical observations of the Baby- lonians. He foretold about the time of the eclipse, not the exact hour or minute.) In Magna Graecia, Pythagoras sought the explanation of the universe, not in any kind of matter, but in Number, or Har- mony. This, he said, was the principle that had brought order out of pr'meval chaos. His disciples, naturally, paid much attention to mathematics ; and to Pythagoras himself is ascribed the famous demonstration in geometry that the square on the longest side of the right-triangle is equal to the sum of the squares on the two other sides. The Pythagoreans, too, especially connected “philosophy” (the name for their study of the beginnings of things) with human conduct. The harmony in the outer world, they urged, should be matched by harmony in the soul of man. III. THE “PEOPLE” RULE AT ATHENS Between 1000 and 500 b.c., the “kings” disappeared from all Greek cities except Sparta and Argos — and there they kept little but their dignity. Everywhere the nobles had been growing in wealth, through their control of all commerce. As the only capitalists, they loaned money to the ordinary farmers — on exorbitant interest, as high as twenty per cent a year — and took farm after farm on mortgage foreclosure, perhaps enslaving also the farmers and their families. Not content with so oppressing the masses below them, they used their increased power to divide among themselves, step by step, the old royal authority. The Homeric monarchies became oli- garchies (p. 62, note). The next step was the rise of tyrants. In all Greek cities there had come to be a sharp division between classes. The wealthy nobles called themselves “the few” or “the good”: THE PEOPLE RULE AT ATHENS 75 and the class below them they called “ the many” or “ the bad. ” , “The many” clamored and complained; but they were too ignorant and disunited as yet to defend themselves against the better-united . “few” — until the way was made easier for them by the I “tyrants.” I Usually a tyrant was some noble, who, either ! from selfish ambition or j from sympathy with the jll oppressed masses, turned y against his own order to become a champion of the 'I' despised “many.” When I I he had made himself mas- ; ' ter of the citv bv their Doric Capital. From a photograph L ' . , , . 1 , , . of a detail of the Parthenon (p. 107). I aid, he tried to keep his Ij power by surrounding himself with mercenaries and by ruining : the nobles with taxes or even by exiling or murdering them, j As the Greeks used the word, “tyrant” does not necessarily mean a bad or cruel ruler : it means merely a man who seized 1 1 supreme rule by force. Many tyrants were generous, far- I sighted rulers, building useful public works, helping to develop I trade, encouraging art and literature. But some, of course, were selfish and vicious ; and all arbitrary rule was hateful to the Greeks, — so that the oligarchs could usually persuade !| the people that the murder of a tyrant was a good deed. Ty- ! ' rants became common about 700 b.c. By 500, they had gone ' ^ from every city in the Greek peninsula, though some were found II still in outlying districts. When the tyrants were overthrown, 1 1 the nobles had been so weakened that the people had a better 1 1 chance. In the Ionian parts of Greece, the next step was com- |i monly a democracy. Iji Now we will trace this change from “the rule of one” to I “the rule of many” in Athens. The tyrants A step toward democracy 76 THE GREEKS BEFORE 500 B.C. Kingship gives way to oligarchy The oli- garchs hold the land and enslave the poor Attempts at tyranny lead to conces- sions Written laws The heads of the “noble” families (the “well-born”) were in the habit of meeting in council on the hill called the Areop- agus (the hill of Ares, god of war). Very early this Council of the Areopagus began to choose “ ar chons” (“rulers”) from its own number to take over the command in war and other important parts of the royal power. Gradually the “king” became only the city-priest. By mortgages, by purchase perhaps, by fraud and force sometimes, the “well-born” had come also to own nearly all the land of Attica. Most of it was tilled for them by tenants who had lost their own farms on mortgages and who now paid five sixths their crops for rent. A bad season, or ravages by hostile bands of invaders, would force these tenants to mortgage themselves, since they had no more land to mortgage, in order to get food and seed. Interest was crushing, — eighteen or twenty per cent a year. If the debtors failed to pay, the noble who held the mortgage could drag them off in chains and sell them for slaves. Nor did the common tribesman have any part in the government. Even the Assembly had shrunk into a gathering of noble families to decide upon peace and war and to choose archons. “ The poor, ” says Aristotle (a later Greek writer, in an account of this period), “were the very bondmen of the rich. . . . They were discontented with every feature of their lot .. . for . . . they had no share in any- thing.” This discontent of the masses, and the quarrels among fac- tions of the nobles, gave opportunity to ambitious adventurers ; and (625 b.c.) one young noble seized the citadel of Athens with a band of troops, in order to make himself tyrant. The nobles rallied and crushed this attempt ; but the peril induced them to make two concessions to the poorer masses : (1) They admitted to the Assembly all men who would buy their own heavy armor for war, and (2) they gave the people written laws. Athenian law had been a matter of ancient custom. It was not written down, and much of it was known only to the nobles. All judges (archons) were nobles ; and they often abused their THE PEOPLE RULE AT ATHENS 77 power in order to favor their own class in law suits. The people had long clamored for written laws. The nobles had stubbornly resisted this demand, but now they gave way. In 621 b.c. Draco, one of the archons, engraved the old laws of Athens on wooden blocks and set them up where all might see them. The result was to make men feel how harsh the old laws were. The “laws of Draco,” it was said in later times, were “written in blood rather than ink.” The Athenians now demanded new laws; and the renewed class struggles, together with the incom- petent rule of the nobles, brought the city to the verge of ruin in war with Little Megara. From this peril the city was finally saved by the courage and generalship of a certain Solon (one of the nobles, already famous as a philosopher and poet) ; and this brilliant success pointed to Solon as the possible savior of Athens from her internal perils. He was known to sympa- thize with the poor. In his poems he had long blamed the greed of the nobles and had pleaded for reconciliation between the warring classes. The Assembly now made him “ sole Archon, ” with supreme authority to remodel the government and the laws. Solon used this extraordinary power first to reform economic evils.^ (1) He gave to all tenants the full ownership of the lands which they had been renting from the nobles (and which in most cases they or their fathers had lost earlier through debt) ; and he forbade the ownership in future of more than a moderate amount of land, by any one man. (2) He freed all Athenians who were in slavery in Attica, and forbade the en- slaving of any Athenian tribesman in future. (3) He can- celed all debts, so as to give distracted Athens a fresh start ; but he resisted a wild clamor for the division of all property. In later times, the people celebrated these acts by a yearly “Festival of the Shaking-off of Burdens.” These reforms, it was soon seen, went deeper than merely to matters of property. (1) So many of the nobles lost their commanding wealth that before long they ceased to be a distinct class. Later distinctions in Athenian society were mainly 1 Economic means “relating to property” ; it must not be confused with “economical.” Rise of Solon to leadership Sole Archon (dictator) Economic reforms 78 THE GREEKS BEFORE 500 B.C. Direct political reforms Other reforms Solon abdicates A true democrat Plain. Shoro, and Mountain Pisistratus, tyrant, S6o B.C. between rich and poor. (2) Many of the old tenant farmers could afford to buy heavy armor (p„ 76), and so could come also into the Assembly on a level with its old members. And, besides these indirect political changes, Solon next reformed the government directly. (1) He created a Senate (chosen by lot, so that wealth should not control election) to replace the Areopagus as the guiding part of the government. This body was to recommend measures to the Assembly. (2) He admitted to the Assembly all tribesmen, even the light- armed soldiers — though these last were not yet allowed to hold any offices. This enlarged Assembly, besides accepting or rejecting proposals of the new Council, could now discuss them ; and besides electing archons, it could try them and punish them for misgovernment. (3) The Areopagus was henceforth to consist of ex-archons, and became merely a sort of law court. Solon also made it the duty of every father to teach his sons a trade ; limited the wasteful extravagance at funerals — espe- cially the amount of wealth that might be buried with the dead ; and replaced Draco’s bloody laws by milder punishments for offenses. In one thing he intensified an unhappy tendency of his age : he forbade women to appear in public gatherings. To establish all these changes kept Solon busy through the years 594 and 593 b.c. Then, to the surprise of many, he resigned his power. He had really been an “elected tyrant,” or a “ dictator.” His acts were so popular with the great mass of the people that he might easily have made himself tyrant for life. But for the first time in history, a man holding vast power voluntarily laid it down in order that the people might govern themselves. But now a new strife of factions followed between the Plain (the larger land-owners), the Shore (merchants), and the Moun- tain (small farmers and shepherds) — until, 30 years later, Pisis- tratus, a near kinsman of Solon, made himself tyrant. His rule was mild and wise. He lived simply, like other citizens. He even appeared in a law court, to answer in a suit against him. And he always treated the aged Solon with deep respect, SOLON AND CLISTHENES 79 despite the latter’s steady opposition. Indeed, Pisistratm governed through the forms of Solon’s constitution,^ and enforced Solon’s laws, taking care only to have his own friends elected to the chief offices. He was more like the “boss” of a great political “machine” than like a “tyrant.” Pisistratus encouraged commerce. Indeed he laid the basis for Athens’ later trade leadership by seizing for her the mouth il Temple of Theseus (so-called) at Athens, now believed to have been ■ built about 440 b. c. as a temple to Athene. During the Middle Ages it ' was used as a Christian church; hence its perfect preservation. See i page 71 and Plate XX. I to the Black Sea. He also enlarged and beautified Athens; I improved the roads, and built an aqueduct to bring a supply of I water to the city from the hills ; and he drew to his court a i brilliant circle of poets, painters, architects, and sculptors, from all Hellas. The first written edition of the Homeric poems is I said to have been put together under his encouragement, and Thespis (p. 73) began Greek tragedy at the magnificent festivals I now instituted to Dionysus (god of wine). 1 Constitution,^ here and everywhere in early history, means not a written document, as with us, but the general usages of government in practice. 80 THE GREEKS BEFORE 500 B.C. Hippias and Hipparchus Clisthenes expels the tyrant Cleruchs : a new kind of colony In 527, Pisistratus was succeeded by unworthy sons Hippias and Hipparchus. Hipparchus was soon murdered, and later Hippias was driven out by a revolt led by Clisthenes, a ! noble whom he had exiled. “The Athenians,” says Aristotle, “now showed that men : will fight more bravely for themselves than for a master.” The | Euboeans and Thebans Seized this moment of confusion to invade Attica from two sides at once ; but the Athenians routed them in a double battle, pursued into Euboea, stormed Chalcis there, and took for themselves its trade with Thrace (p. 70). Athens now began a new kind of colonization, sending four thousand citizens to possess the best land of Chalcis, and to serve as a garrison there. These men retained full Athenian citizenship, besides having full control over their own settle- ments in their own Assemblies. They were known as cleruchs, or out-settlers. In this way Athens found land for her surplus population, and fortified her influence abroad. Internal quarrels due to two evils Reforms of Clisthenes Internal jealousies still weakened the city (1) between Plain, Shore, and Mountain, and (2) between the citizens and a large body of resident “aliens,” drawn to Athens since Solon’s time by the growing trade of the city. These aliens were enter- prising and sometimes wealthy ; still, though they lived in the city, they had no share in it. No alien could rote or hold office, or sue in a law court (except through the favor of some citizen), or take part in a religious festival, or marry an Athenian, or even own land in Attica. The city usually found it worth while to protect his property, in order to attract other strangers ; but he had no secure rights. Nor could his son or any later descendant acquire any rights merely hy continuing to live in Athens. Clisthenes now came forward with proposals to, remedy these evils. The Assembly approved his plan and gave him authority to carry it out. Accordingly, he marked off Attica into a hundred little divisions called demes. Each citizen was enrolled in one of these, and his son after him. Member- ship in a clan had always been the proof of citizenship. Now that proof was to be found in this deme-enrollment. Even the SPARTA AND MILITARISM 81 cleruchs (p. 80), and their descendants, kept their deme-enroll- ment, and, through that, their Athenian citizenship. The hundred demes were distributed among ten “tribes,” or wards, so placed that men of the Shore and of the Mountain often found themselves in the same “ tribe.” The Assembly now voted by these “territorial” tribes, and so the old factions died out. Moreover, while Clisthenes was distributing citizens among these new geographical units, he seized the cha7ice to enroll the non-citizens also in the demes and so brought them into the citizen body. (This applied only to those aliens then m Athens. In a few years another alien class grew up, with all the old disad- vantages. It was to be a long time before the world was to learn our device of easy “naturalization.”) Clisthenes also gave the Assembly more power. It now elected ten “generals” yearly, who took over most of the old authority of the archons ; and it was made lawful for any voter to introduce new business. The “ light-armed ” citizens were still not eligible to office. Otherwise, Athens had become a democracy. Like Solon, Clisthenes might easily have made himself tyrant. But, with splendid faith, he chose to work, as Solon had done, to found government by the people. Clisthenes added also one more device to check faction. This was ostracism. Once a year the Assembly was given a chance to vote by ballot (on pieces of pottery, “ostraka”), each one against any man whom he deemed dangerous to the state. If six thousand citizens took part in the vote, then that man against whom the largest number of the six thousand votes were cast had to go into exile. Even after all danger of a tyrant had ceased, ostracism was a convenient way for the people to relieve a leader whom they trusted from troublesome rivals or opponents. Such exile was felt to be perfectly honorable ; and when a man came back from it, he took at once his old place in the public regard. IV. THE GROWTH OF MILITARY POWER AT SPARTA One of the petty Dorian states in the Peloponnesus was Sparta. It had no sea coast ; but their devotion to war and certain habits of life (ascribed by legend to a great lawgiver Lycurgus) A new democratic advance Ostracism 82 THE GREEKS BEFORE 500 B.C. Kings, Senate, Assembly Spartans and their subjects Spartan discipline opened to the Spartans a career of conquest. By 700 b.c. they were masters of all Laconia; soon after, they subdued Messenia ; and then they brought all the rest of the Pelopon- nesus — except hostile Argos — into a military league of which they were the head (the Peloponnesian League). In Sparta the royal power was divided between two kings (the Spartan story explained this arrangement as due to the birth of twin princes), and real authority rested in the Senate of thirty elders. An Assembly, much like that of Homeric times, accepted or rejected proposals laid before it by the Senate, but could not amend or discuss them. Practically, Sparta was an oligarchy. Moreover, as a whole, the Spartans were a ruling class in the midst of subjects eight or ten times their number. They were a camp of some 9000 conquerors, with their families, living under arms in their unwalled city. They had taken for themselves the most fertile lands in Laconia ; but they did no work. Each Spartan’s land was tilled for him by slaves, called Helots. These Helots were the descendants of the country-dweWers at the time of the Spartan conquest. They numbered perhaps five to one Spartan ; and occasionally the Spartans carried out secret massacres of the more ambitious and intelligent among them. The inhabitants of the hundred small towns of Laconia were not slaves, but neither were they part of the Spartan state They tilled lands of their own, and carried on whatever other industry was found in Laconia. They kept their own customs, and managed the local affairs of their own towns — under the supervision of Spartan rulers; and they provided troops for Sparta’s army. Spartan mastery rested on a sleepless vigilance and on a rigid and brutal discipline. The aim of Sparta was to train soldiers. The family, as well as the man, belonged absolutely to the state. Officers examined each child, at its birth, to decide whether it was fit to live. If it seemed weak or puny, it was exposed in the mountains to die. If it was strong and healthy, it was returned to its parents for a few years. But after a boy SPARTA AND MILITARISM 83 reached the age of seven, he never again slept under his mother’s roof : he was taken from home, to be trained with other boys under public officers. Boys were taught reading and a little martial music, and were given training to strengthen the body and to develop self-control and obedience. On certain festival days, boys were whipped at the altars to test their endurance ; and Plu- tarch (a Greek writer of the second century a.d.) states that often they died under the lash rather than utter a cry. (This custom was much like the savage “ sun-dance” of some American Indian tribes. Several other features of Spartan life seem to have been survivals of a barbarous period that the Spartans never wholly outgrew.) From twenty to thirty, the youth lived under arms in bar- racks. Years of constant military drill made it easy for the Spartans to adopt more complex tactics than were possible for their neighbors. They were trained in small regiments and companies, so as to maneuver readily at the word of com- mand. This made them superior in the field. They stood to the other Greeks as disciplined soldiery always stands to un- trained militia. At thirty the man was required to marry, in order to rear more soldiers ; but he must still eat in barracks, and live there most of the time. There was a kind of virtue, no doubt, in this training. The Spartans had the quiet dignity of born rulers. In contrast with the noisy Greeks about them, their speech was brief and pithy (“laconic” speech). They used only iron money. And their plain living made them appear superior to the weak in- dulgences of other men. Spartan women, too, kept a freedom which unhappily was lost in other Greek cities. Girls were trained in gymnastics, much as boys were ; and the women were famous for beauty and health, and for public spirit and patriotism. Still, the value of the Spartans to the world lay in the fact . that they made a garrison for the rest of Greece, and helped save something better than themselves. If the Greeks had all been Spartans, we could afford to omit the study of Greek history. The good and evil 84 THE GREEKS BEFORE 500 B.C. V. GEOGRAPHY AND ITS INFLUENCE {May study, based on maps after pp. 52 and 70) Note the three great divisions : Northern Greece (Epirus and Thes- saly) ; Central Greece (a group of eleven districts, to the Isthmus of Corinth) ; and the Peloponnesus (the southern peninsula). Name the districts from Phocis south, and the chief cities in each. Which districts have no coast? Locate Delphi, Thermopylae, Tempe, Parnassus, Olympus, Olympia, Salamis, Ithaca, eight islands, three cities on the Asiatic side. Keep in mind that the islands shown are only a few of the many score that dot the Aegean. {The index usually tells on what map a geographical name can be found.) “ Hellas ” and “ Hellenes ” Many small divisions A varied civilization Intercourse by the sea The Greeks called themselves Hellenes (as they do still). Hellas meant not European Greece alone, but all the lands of the Hellenes. Still, the European peninsula remained the heart of Hellas. Omitting Epirus and Thessaly (which had little to do with Greek history), the area of that European Greece is less than one half of that of New Brunswick. The islands and the patches of Greek settlements on dis- tant coasts made many distinct geographical divisions. Even little Greece counted more than twenty such units, each shut off from the others by its strip of sea and its mountain walls. Some of these divisions were about as large as an Ontario township, and the large ones (except Thessaly and Epirus) were only seven or eight times that size. The little states which grew up in these divisions differed widely from one another. Some became monarchies; some, oligarchies; some, democracies. In some, the chief industry became trade; in others, agriculture. In some, the people were slow and conservative ; in others, enterprising and pro- gressive. Oriental states were marked by great uniformity ; Greek civilization was marked by a wholesome diversity. Mountain people, living apart, are usually rude and conserva- tive ; but /row such tendencies Hellas was saved by the sea — which brought Athens as closely into touch with Miletus (in Asia) as with Sparta or Olympia. The very heart of Greece is broken into islands and promontories, so that it is hard to find a spot thirty miles distant from the sea. Sailors and traders come in PLATE XVIII Above. — Modern Sparta from the north. In the background is seen the southern slope of Mt. Taygetus, through whose perilous passes Spartan, armies marched to conquer their western neighbors, the Messenians. Below- — The Plain of the Eurotas, the site of ancient Sparta. The Spartans had no city walls and no important buildings, and so left little in the way of lasting relics of their life. PLATE XIX i Vale of Tempe, in Thessaly INFLUENCE OF GEOGRAPHY 85 touch constantly with new manners and new ideas, and they are more likely to make progress than a purely agricultural people. Exchanging commodities, they are ready to exchange ideas also. The seafaring Hellenes were “ always seeking some new thing.” These early seekers found “new things” within easy reach. This “most European of all European lands” lay nearest of all Europe to the old civilizations of Asia and Egypt. Moreover, it faced this cirilized East rather than the barbarous West. On the other side, toward Italy, the coast of Greece is cliff or marsh, with only three or four good harbors. On the east, however, the whole line is broken by deep bays, from whose mouths chains of inviting islands lead on and on. In clear weather, the mariner may cross the Aegean without losing sight of land. Very important, too, was the appearance of the landscape. A great Oriental state spread over vast plains and was bounded by terrible immensities of desolate deserts. But, except in Thessaly, Greece contained no plains of consequence. It was a land of intermingled sea and mountain, with everything upon a moderate scale. There were no mountains so astounding as to awe the mind. There were no destructive earthquakes, or tre- mendous storms, or overwhelming floods. Oriental man had bowed in superstitious dread before the mysteries of nature, with little attempt to explain them. But in Greece, nature was not terrible ; and men began early to search into her secrets. Oriental submission to tradition and custom was replaced by fearless inquiry and originality. In government, Oriental despotism gave way to Greek freedom. Greece had no parallel to the slavish Babylonian or Persian submissiveness before their kings, or to the Egyptian’s before his priests. No doubt, too, the moderation and variety of the world about them had a part in producing the many-sided genius of the people and their lively but well-controlled imagination. And the varied beauty of hill and dale and blue, sunlit sea, the wonderfully clear, exhilarating air, and the soft splendor of the radiant sky helped to give them deep joy in mere living. “ Always seeking some new thing ” Vicinity of older civilizations in the East Influence of physical geography 86 THE GREEKS BEFORE 500 B.C. A temperate climate Protected from Asiatic conquest by the Medi- terranean A civiliza- tion like our own Above all other peoples, they developed a low for harmony and 'proportion. Moderation became their ideal virtue, and they used the same word for good and beautiful. Like most of Europe, Greece has a more temperate climate than the semi-tropical river valleys of Asia, and food crops demand more cultivation. This called for greater exertion upon the part of man. The beginnings of civilization were slower in Europe ; but man was finally to count for more there than in Asia. Finally, Greece was saved from Asiatic conquest largely by its position behind the broad moat of the Mediterranean. Persia subdued the Asiatic Greeks almost without a blow : against the European Greeks, we shall see, her supreme efforts failed. Most important of all, Greek civilization was essentially one with our own. The remains of Egyptian or Babylonian sculp- ture and architecture arouse our admiration and interest as curiosities ; but they are foreign to us. With a Greek temple or a Greek poem we feel at home. It might have been built, or written in our own day. Some of our most beautiful build- ‘ ings are copied from Greek models. Our historians venerate the Greek Herodotus and Thucydides as their masters. Our children delight in the stories that the blind Homer chanted, and older students still find his poems a necessary part of literary culture. Exercise. — Make a table — in two parallel columns — of leading dates, approximate or fixed, in Oriental and in Greek history, down to 500 B.C., when the two streams join. Can you justify the phrase “Mosf European of European lands” for Greece, by pointing out two or more respects in which important European characteristics are emphasized in Greek geography? Name two features of Greek geog- raphy favorable to any early civilization — as compared with Spain or France. Distinguish between Sparta and Laconia. Have you any buildings in your city in which Greek columns are used ? Of which order, in each case? Before the Greeks, the Persians built great roads ; so did the Romans afterwards; you will hear no mention of roadbuild- ing among the Greeks. Why? Find in the library two or three stories about Solon. The Iliad opens with a story of a pestilence in the Greek camp ; the poet ascribes it to the arrows of the sun-god Apollo. Can INFLUENCE OF GEOGRAPHY 87 you find an explanation for such a pestilence in this text ? Explain the following terms : constitution ; Helot ; tyrant ; Lycurgus ; Clisthenes ; Areopagus; archon; deme; clan; tribe; a “tribe of Clisthenes.” (To explain a term is to make such statements concerning it as will at least prevent the term being confused with any other. Thus, if the term is Solon, it will not do to say, “A Greek lawgiver,” or “A lawgiver of the sixth century b.c.” The answer must at least say, “An Athenian lawgiver of about 600 b.c.” ; and it ought to say, “An Athenian lawgiver and democratic reformer of about 600 b.c.”) For Further Reading. — Davis’ Readings, I, 40 ff. (especially Nos. 41-43 on the Delphic Oracle ; 44, on Olympic Games — and see also Dr. Davis’ novel, A Victor of Salamis; 46, on founding a colony; and the extracts from Plutarch’s Life of Lycurgus). For modern authorities, Bury, 86-106, 116-117, 159-161, and especially 180-189 (on Solon) ; or Kimball-Bury’s Students’ Greece, chs. ii-iii. East and West join battle Scroll prom an Attic Vase Painting CHAPTER IX GREEKS AND PERSIANS We have seen how the Persians stretched their rule swiftly over the territory of all preceding empires, besides adding vast regions before unknown. By 500 b.c. they had advanced even into Europe across Thrace (map after p. 52) to the borders of Greece. The mighty world-empire next advanced confidently to add to its dominions the scattered groups of Greek cities, coveted for their ships and their trade. East and West joined battle. Asiatic Hellas, lacking the protection of a sea-moat, had been conquered by Cyrus the Persian some fifty years before, and now Carthage (a Phoeni- cian colony on the north coast of Africa) was incited by Persia to attack Magna Gallia; so that to oppose the master of the world there was left only the little peninsula we call Greece — and its strength was being wasted in in- ternal struggles, Athens at war with Aegina and Thebes, Sparta with Argos, and many other cities torn by class strife. ’ By 492, Darius the Persian had collected a mighty army at the Hellespont, with a fleet to sail along the coast carrying i 88 ij MARATHON, 490 B.C. 89 supplies. This fleet was wrecked by a storm at the rocky promontory of Mount Athos, and the land army had no choice but to return to Asia. But in the spring of 490 a second expe- dition was embarked upon a new majestic fleet, which proceeded directly across the Aegean. Receiving the submission of the islands on its course, this expedition reached Euboea, destroyed the city of Eretria there, and then landed its troops on the plain First Persian expedition,, 492 B.C., Mt. Athos Second expedition, 490 B.C., Marathon AIarathon To-day. — • From a photograph. The camera stood a little above the Athenian camp in the Plan on the opposite page. That camp was in the first open space in the foreground, where the poplar trees are scattered. The land beyond the strip of water is the narrow peninsula running out from the “ Marsh ” in the Plan. of Marathon in Attica — especially to punish Athens, which had dared assist Ionian Greeks in a vain rebellion. From the rising ground where the hills of Mount Pentelicus meet the plain, ten thousand Athenians faced the Persian host. Sparta had promised help ; and at the first news of Persian approach, a swift runner (Phidippides) had raced the 160 miles of rugged hill country to implore haste. He reached Sparta on the second day ; but the dilatory Spartans waited a week, on the ground that an old law forbade them to set out on a military Generalship of Miltiades Athens saved The meaning of Marathon 90 WARS OF GREEKS AND PERSIANS expedition before the full moon. Athens was left to save her- self — and our Western world — as best she could, against many times her numbers of the most famous soldiery of the world. Miltiades, the Athenian commander, did not wait to be attacked, but himself took the offensive, moving his forces down the slope toward the Persian array. While yet an arrow’s flight distant, the advancing Greeks broke into a run, so as to cover the rest of the ground before the Persian archers could get in their deadly work. Once at close quarters, the heavy weapons of the Greeks gave them overwhelming advantage. Their dense array, charging with long, outstretched spears, by its sheer weight broke the light-armed Persian lines. The Per- sians fought gallantly, as always ; but their darts and light scimitars made little impression upon the heavy bronze armor of the Greeks, while their linen tunics and wicker shields offered little defense against the thrust of the Greek spear. For a time, Persian numbers did force back the Greek center ; but the two Greek wings (where Miltiades had massed his strength), hav- ing routed the forces in front of them, wheeled upon the Persian center, crushing both flanks at the same moment, and drove it in disorder to the ships. The Persians sailed away on a course that might lead to Athens, and so Miltiades hurried off Phidippides to announce the victory to the city. Already ex- hausted by the battle, the runner put forth supreme effort, raced the twenty -two miles of mountain road, shouted exult- antly to the eager, anxious crowds in the city street, — “ Ours the victory !” — and fell dead. (This famous run from the battle- field to the city is the basis of the modern “Marathon” race, in which champion athletes of all countries compete. The student will like to read Browning’s poem, Phidippides.) Meanwhile Miltiades was hurrying his wearied army, with- out rest, over the same road. Fortunately, the Persian fleet had to sail around a long promontory (map after p. 52), and when it appeared off Athens, the next morning, Miltiades had arrived. The Persians did not care to face again the men of Marathon, and the same day they set sail for Asia. Merely as a military event Marathon is an unimportant sliir- THE EXPEDITION OF XERXES 91 mish ; but, in its results upon human welfare, it is among the few really “decisive” battles of the world. Whether Egyptian conquered Babylonian, or Babylonian conquered Egyptian, mattered little in the long run. But it did matter whether or not the huge, despotic East should crush the new free life out of the West. Marathon decided that the West should live. For the Athenians themselves, the victory began a new era. The sons of the men who, against such odds, conquered the hitherto unconquered Persians, could find no odds too crush- ing, no prize too dazzling, in the years to come. Soon after Marathon, Egypt rebelled against Persia. This gave the Greeks ten years to get ready for the next Persian attack, but the only city to make any good use of the time was Athens. The democracy there had divided into two political parties. The conservative party wished to follow es- tablished customs without further change. Its leader at this time was Aristides, surnamed “the Just.” The radical party wished further reforms. It was led by Themistocles, less up- right than Aristides, but one of the most far-sighted statesmen in history. Themistocles saw that Persia could not attack Greece suc- cessfully without command of the sea. Moreover, huge as the Persian Empire was, it was mainly an inland power ; it could not so vastly outnumber the Greeks in ships as in men. Victory for the Greeks, then, was more likely on sea than on land. Accordingly he determined to make Athens a naval power. But, sea-farers though the Greeks were, up to this time they had not used ships much in war. The party of Aristides wished to hold to the old policy of fighting on land, and they had the glorious victory of Marathon to back their arguments. Finally, in 483, the two leaders agreed to let a vote of ostracism decide. The vote sent Aristides into banishment, and left Themis- tocles free to carry out his new policy. Rich veins of silver had recently been discovered in the mines of Attica. These mines belonged to the city. It had been proposed to divide the The ten years’ inter- val Preparation at Athens Aristides and Themis- tocles Themisto- cles and the fleet / 92 WARS OF GREEKS AND PERSIANS Third Per- sian expe- dition, 480 B.C. Gloom in Greece The three possible lines of defense Greek plans income from them among the citizens ; but Themistocles per- suaded his countrymen to reject this tempting plan, and instead to build a great fleet. In the next three years Athens became the greatest naval power in Hellas. Marathon had proved that no Persian fleet by itself could transport enough troops ; so the Persians now tried again the plan of the first expedition (p. 88), but upon a larger scale, both as to army and fleet. To guard against another accident at Mt. Athos, a canal for ships was cut through the isthmus at the back of that rocky headland, — a great engineering work that took three years. Supplies, too, were collected at stations along the way ; the Hellespont was bridged with chains of boats covered with planks ; ^ and at last, in the spring of 480, Xerxes, the new Persian king, led in person a mighty host of many nations into Europe. A fleet of twelve hundred ships accompanied the army. No wonder that the Delphic Oracle warned the Athenians to flee to the ends of the earth. The Greeks had three lines of defense. The first was at the Vale of Tempe near Mount Olympus, where only a narrow pass opened into Thessaly. The second was at Thermopylae, where the mountains shut off northern from central Greece, except for a road only a few feet in width. The third was behind the Isthmus of Corinth. At a congress at Corinth (where Sparta was chosen leader) the Peloponnesians wished selfishly to abandon the first two lines. They urged that all patriotic Greeks should retire at once within the Peloponnesus, and fortify the Isthmus by an impregna- ble wall. This plan was as foolish as it was selfish. Greek troops might have held the Isthmus against the Persian land army ; but the Peloponnesus was readily open to attack by sea, and the Persian fleet would have found it easier here than at either of the other lines of defense to land troops in the Greek rear without long losing touch with its own army. Still Xerxes was allowed to enter Greece without a blow — and was of course at once reinforced by excellent troops from 1 Read Herodotus’ story of Xerxes’ wrath when the first bridge broke, and how he ordered the Hellespont to be flogged (Davis’ Readings, I, No. 64). I THERMOPYLAE AND PLATAEA 93 deserted northern Greece. Then in a half-hearted way, Sparta ' decided to make a stand at Thermopylae. The pass there i was only some twenty feet wide between the cliff and the sea, and the only other path was one over the mountain, equally ^ easy to defend. Moreover, the long island of Euboea ap- I proached the mainland just opposite the pass, so that the Greek fleet in the narrow strait could guard the land army against having troops landed in the rear. I The Greek fleet at this place numbered 270 ships, of which ' the Athenians furnished half. The land defense had been left 1 to the Peloponnesian League, and the Spartan king, Leonidas, held the pass with three hundred Spartans and a few thousand allies. The main force of Spartans was again left at home, on the ground of a religious festival. ■ The Persians reached Thermopylae without a check. Battle was joined at once on land and sea, and raged for three days. Four hundred Persian ships were wrecked in a storm, and the I rest were checked by the Greek fleet in a sternly contested con- ! flict at Artemisium. On land, Xerxes flung column after col- , umn of chosen troops into the pass, to be beaten back each time ' in rout. But on the third night a Greek traitor guided a force I of Persians over the mountain path, which the Spartans had left only slightly guarded. Leonidas then sent home his allies, but he and his three hundred remained to die in the pass which their country had given them to defend. They charged joy- ously upon the Persian spears, and fell fighting, to a man. Sparta had shown no capacity to command in this great crisis. But at Thermopylae her citizens set an example of calm heroism that has stirred the world ever since. In later times the burial I place of the Three Hundred was marked by this inscription, “ Stranger, go tell at Sparta that we lie here in obedience to her ] command.” f Xerxes advanced on Athens and was joined by most of central ' Greece. The Peloponnesians withdrew the army and fell back j upon their first plan of building a wall across the Isthmus, ] and the admiral of the fleet (a Spartan, though Sparta furnished ) only 16 ships) was bent upon retiring to that position. By Thermopy- lae: loss of central Greece Athens destroyed 94 WARS OF GREEKS AND PERSIANS Strategy of Themisto- des vehement entreaties, Themistocles persuaded him to hold the fleet for a day or two at Athens, so as to remove the women and children and old men to Salamis and other near-by islands. The Persians marched triumphantly through Attica, burning villages and farmsteads, and laid Athens and its temples in ashes. But Themistocles, in delaying the retreat of the fleet, planned for more than escape. He was determined that the decisive G, the Greek fleet at Salamis. PPP, the Persian fleet. X, the Throne of Xerxes. (The “ Long Walls ” were not built until later ; p. 104.) battle should be a sea battle, and that it should be fought where the fleet then lay. No other spot so favorable for the smaller Greek fleet could be found as the narrow strait between the Athenian shore and Salamis. If the Greeks withdrew to Cor- inth, the fleet, too, would probably break up. Some ships would sail home to defend their own island cities ; and others might join the Persians. Debate waxed fierce in the all-night THERMOPYLAE AND PLATAEA 95 council of the captains. The Corinthian admiral sneered that the allies need not regard a man who no longer represented a Greek city. Themistocles retorted that he represented two hundred ships/ and could make a city, or take one, where he chose ; and, by this threat he forced the allies to remain. To make reconsideration impossible, the wily Themistocles then made use of a strange stratagem. With pretended friend- ship, he sent a secret message to Xerxes, telling him of the weak- ness and dissensions of the Greeks, and advising him to block up the straits to prevent their escape. Xerxes took this treacherous advice. There was now no choice for the Greeks but to fight. The battle of Salamis, the next day, lasted from dawn to night, but the Greek victory was complete. “A king sat on the rocky brow ^ Which looks o’er sea-born Salamis ; And ships by thousands lay below, And men in nations, — all were his. He counted them at break of day, And when the sun set, where were they? ” The Persian chances, however, were still good. Xerxes fled at once to Asia with his shattered fleet, but he left three hundred thousand chosen troops under his general Mardonius to winter in the plains of Thessaly. The Athenians began courageously to rebuild their city. Mardonius looked upon them as the soul of the Greek resistance, and early the next spring, he offered them an alliance, with many favors and with the complete restora- tion of their city at Persian expense. Terrified lest the Athenians should accept so' tempting an offer, Sparta sent profuse promises of help, begging them not to desert Hellas. But the Athenians had already sent back the Persian messenger : “ Tell Mardonius that so long as the sun holds on his way in heaven, the Athe- nians will come to no terms with Xerxes.” Of Sparta they now asked only that she take the field early enough so that Athens need not be again abandoned without a battle. ^ The fleet had now grown to 378 ships in all. ^ A golden throne had been set up for Xerxes, that he might better view the battle (see map, p. 94) . These lines are from Byron. Battle ot Salamis Mardonius and Athens 96 WARS OF GREEKS AND PERSIANS Spartan delay or treachery Battle of Plataea Sparta made the promise, but did not keep it. Mardonius approached rapidly. The Spartans found another sacred fes- tival before which it would not do to leave their homes ; and the Athenians, in bitter disappointment, a second time took refuge at Salamis. Mardonius again burned Athens and laid waste the farms over all Attica. Sparta was still clinging to the stupid plan of defending only the Isthmus. Some of her keener allies, however, at last made her government see the uselessness of the wall at Corinth if the Athenians should be forced to join Persia with their fleet ; and finally Sparta took the field with 50,000 Peloponnesian troops. The Athenian forces and other reinforcements raised the total of the Greek army to about 100,000, and the final contest with Mardonius was fought near the little town of Plataea. Spar- tan valor and the Athenian skill and dash won a victory which became a massacre. Only 3000 of the invaders escaped to Asia, and no hostile Persian ever again set foot in European Greece. Exercises. — 1. Summarize the causes of the Persian Wars. 2. De- vise and memorize a series of catch-words for rapid statement that shall suggest the outline of the story quickly. Thus : First expedition against European Greece, 492 b.c., through Thrace : Mount Athos. Second expedition, across the Aegean, two years later : capture of Eretria ; landing at Marathon ; excuses of Sparta ; Miltiades and battle of Marathon, 490 B.C. (Let the student continue the series.) For Further Reading. — Specially suggested : Davis’ Readings (I, Nos. 62-73) gives the whole story of Xerxes’ invasion as the Greeks themselves told it, in about 47 pages. Additional : Cox’s Greeks and Persians is an admirable little book. Many anecdotes are given in Plutarch’s Lives (“Themistocles” and “Aristides”). Bury is always good reading. Athenian Youth in the Great Religious Procession in Honor of Athene. From the Parthenon frieze (p. 107) ; now in the British Museum. CHAPTER X ATHENIAN LEADERSHIP, 478-431 B.C. (From the Persian War to the Peloponnesian War) After Plataea, the Athenians began once more to rebuild Athens their temples and homes. Themistocles, however, persuaded them to leave even these in ashes and first surround the city with walls. Corinth, hoping basely to gain Athens’ old com- mercial prosperity for herself, urged Sparta to interfere ; and, to her shame, Sparta did demand that the Athenians give up the plan : such walls, she said, might prove an advantage to the Persians if they should again occupy Athens. Attica, which had been ravaged so recently, was in no condi- tion to resist a Peloponnesian army. So the wily Themistocles gained precious time by having himself sent to Sparta to discuss the subject. There he put off the matter from day to day, with skillful excuses ; and meanwhile the Athenians, neglect- ing all private matters, toiled at the walls with desperate haste — men, women, children, and slaves. No material was too precious. Inscribed tablets and fragments of sacred temples and even monuments from the burial grounds were seized for 97 98 THE GREEKS — ATHENIAN LEADERSHIP Piraeus fortified the work. Then, when messengers informed Themistocles that the walls were high enough to be defended, he came before the Lacedaemonians ^ and told them bluntly that henceforward “they must deal with the Athenians as with men who knew quite well what was best for their own and the common good. ” Themistocles went on to establish the naval and commer- cial supremacy of Athens by two great measures : he secured a vote from the Assembly ordering that twenty new ships should Ruins of the Walls op the Piraeus. be added each year to the war fleet ; and he provided the city with a port secure against either storm or human attack. Athens lay some miles from the shore. Until a few years before, her only port had been an open and unsafe roadstead, — the Phalerum ; but during his archonship in 493, Themis- tocles had given the city a magnificent harbor, by improving the inclosed bay of the Piraeus, at great expense. Now he persuaded the people to fortify this port on the land side with a massive wall of solid masonry, clamped with iron, sixteen 1 Lacedaemonia is the name given to the whole Spartan territory. See map after p. 52. Read in Thucydides (see p. 109) the story of how Themis- tocles provided for his own safety at Sparta. THE PIRAEUS 99 feet broad and thirty feet high, so that old men and boys might easily defend it against any enemy. The Athenians now had two walled cities, each four or five miles in circuit, and only four miles apart; and the alien merchants, who dwelt at the Athenian ports, and who had fled at the Persian invasion, — many of them to Corinth, — came thronging back. The war with Persia was still going on, but only on the Ionian coast. In the early spring of 479, a fleet had crossed the Aegean to assist Samos in revolt against Persia. A Spartan commanded the expedition, but three fifths of the ships were Athenian. On the very day of Plataea these forces defeated a great Persian army at Mycale, on the coast of Asia Minor, and seized and burned the three hundred Persian ships. No Persian fleet showed itself again in the Aegean for nearly a hundred years. This victory of Mycale was a signal for the cities of Ionia to revolt against Persia. The Spartans, however, shrank from the task of defending Hellenes so far away, and 'proposed in- stead to remove the lonians to European Greece. The lonians refused to leave their homes, and the Athenians in the fleet declared that Sparta should not so destroy “ Athenian colonies. ” The Spartans seized the excuse to sail home, leaving the Athenians to protect the lonians as best they could. The Athenians gal- lantly undertook the task, and began at once to expel the Per- sian garrisons from the islands of the Aegean. The allies now organized the Confederacy of Delos, so called because its seat of government and its treasury were to be at the island of Delos. Here an annual congress of deputies from the different cities of the League was to meet. Each city had one vote — like the American States under the old Articles of Con- federation. Athens was the “president” of the League, and her generals commanded the fleet. In return, she furnished nearly half of all the ships and men, — far more than her proper share. The purpose of the League was to free the Aegean completely from the Persians, and to keep them from ever coming back. The allies meant to make the union 'perpetual. Lumps of iron Victory at Mycale Sparta withdraws: Athens the leader against Persia Confederacy of Delos 100 THE GREEKS — ATHENIAN LEADERSHIP Grovsrth of the League The “ League ” of equals becomes the Athenian Empire were thrown into the sea when the oath of union was taken, as a symbol that the oath should be binding until the iron should float. The League was corn-posed mainl-y of Ionian cities, inter- ested in commerce. It was a natural rival of Sparta’s Dorian inland league. The League of Delos did its work well. Its chief military hero was the Athenian Cimon, son of Miltiades. Year after year, under his command, the allied fleet reduced one Persian garrison after another, until the whole region of the Aegean was free. The League came to include nearly all the islands of the Aegean and the cities of the northern and eastern coasts. The cities on the shores of the Black Sea, too, were added ; and, even more than before, the rich trade of that region streamed through the Hellespont to the Piraeus. Some members of the League soon began to shirk. As soon as the pressing danger was over, many cities chose to pay money, instead of furnishing ships and men. Athens, on the other hand, eagerly accepted both burdens and responsibili- ties. The fleet became almost wholly Athenian; and the congress at Delos became of little consequence. Then, here and there, cities began to refuse even the payment of money. This, of course, was secession. Such cities said that Persia was no longer dangerous, and that the need of the League was over. But the Athenian fleet, patrolling the Aegean, was all that kept the Persians from reappearing ; and Athens, with good reason, held the allies by force to their promises. In 467, when the union was only ten years old, Naxos, one of the most powerful islands, refused to pay its contributions. Athens at once attacked Naxos, and, after a stern struggle, brought it to submission. But the conquered state was not allowed to return into the union. It lost its vote in the congress, and became a mere subject of Athens. From time to time, other members of the League attempted secession, and met a like fate. Athens took away their fleets, leveled their walls, and made them pay a tribute. Usually a subject city was left to manasje its internal government in its own way ; but it could no longer have alliances with other THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE 101 cities, and sometimes its citadel was held by an Athenian gar- rison. The confederacy of equal states became an empire, with Athens for its “tyrant city.” The meetings of the congress ceased altogether. Athens removed the treasury from Delos, and began to use the funds and resources of the union for her own glory. (By 450 b.c. Lesbos, Chios, and Samos were the Map of Athens, with some structures of the Roman period. — The term “Stoa,” which appears so'often in this map, means “porch” or portico. These porticoes were inclosed by columns, and their fronts along the Agora formed a succession of colonnades. Only a few of the famous build- ings can be shown in a map like this. The “Agora” was the great public square, or open market place, surrounded by shops and porticoes. It was the busiest spot in Athens, the center of the commercial and social life of the city, where men met their friends for business or for pleasure. only states of the League which had not become “ subject states.” Athens, however, had other independent allies that had never be- longed to the Delian Confederacy^ — like Plataea and Corcyra in Greece, Rhegium in Italy, and Segesta in Sicily.) Athens a “ tyrant city ” 102 THE GREEKS — ATHENIAN LEADERSHIP And her work Athens at least continued faithfully to do the work for which the union had been created ; and on the whole, despite the strong tendency to city independence, the subject cities seem to have been well content. In nearly all of them the ruling power became an Assembly like that at Athens ; and the bulk of the people looked gratefully to Athens for protection against the oligarchs. Exercise. — If time permits, let students report to the class stories for this period about Themistocles, Aristides, and Cimon — from Plu- tarch, Bury, or other library material. The best short account of the period is chapter 1 of Cox’s Athenian Empire. Bay of Salamis. The Acropolis, as “ restored ” by Lambert. CHAPTER XI THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE IN PEACE The history of Athens is for us the history of Greece. — Holm. In the fifth century b.c. the Athenian Empire was probably the mightiest state in the world. The cities of the Empire counted some three millions of people. The number seems small to us ; but the population of the world was much smaller then than now, and these were all wealthy, progressive communities. Attica itself contained 300,000 people. Nearly half of these were slaves or aliens.’^ This left some 175,000 citizens, of whom 35.000 were men fit for soldiers. Outside Attica, there were 75.000 more citizens, who had been sent out as colonists to gar- rison outlying parts of the empire. The Empire was rich. Athens drew a yearly income of about four hundred talents ($440,000 in our values) from her Thracian mines and from the port dues and the taxes on alien merchants. The tribute from the subject cities amounted to $660,000. Athens used this money, too, as her own. If she had any excuse, it is that this tribute was much less than it would have cost the cities merely to defend themselves against 1 A new class of alien residents had grown up since Clisthenes took those of his day into the citizen body. Population and wealth 103 104 THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE The Long WaUs Growth of democracy Power of the elected Generals And the “ dema- gogues ” Pericles’ rule pirates, had Athenian protection been removed, and that the Asiatic Greeks paid only one sixth as much as they had formerly paid Persia. Athens had completed her fortifications by building the Long Walls to the Piraeus (map, p. 94). These walls were 30 feet high and 12 feet thick — so that a chariot-road ran along the top. They made Athens absolutely safe from siege, so long as she could keep her supremacy on the sea ; and they added to the city a large open space where the country people might take refuge if Attica were invaded. For thirty-three years (461-429 b.c.) the leading statesman of Athens was Pericles. Soon after Plataea, the poorest citizens had become eligible to office ; and under ^Pericles the govern- ment continued to grow more and more democratic. Four steps in this development are worth noting. 1. When Themistocles carried his great measures, like improving the Piraeus and building a fleet, he was an Archon. But when Pericles guided Athenian policy, he was a General (p. 81). The Generals had become the “administration.” It was they who usually proposed the levy of troops, the build- ing of ships, the raising of money, the making of peace or war. Any other citizen might propose these things ; but the Assembly was most likely to listen to those whom it had chosen to plan for them. True, any prominent speaker, trusted by the people, was known as a “ demagogue, ” or “ leader of the people ” ; and, though out of office, a “leader of the people” exercised great influence. To make things work smoothly, it was desirable that the Board of Generals should contain the most trusted “ leader of the people ” for the time being. Pericles was recognized “demagogue” for many years, and was fifteen times elected “ president, of the Board of Generals. ” Almost always he was the spokesman of that Board before the Assembly. He belonged to the ancient nobility of Athens, but to families that had always taken the side of the people. His mother was a niece of Clisthenes. His supremacy rested CINDER PERICLES 105 in no way upon flattering arts. His proud reserve verged on haughtiness, and he was rarely seen in public. His stately gravity and unruffled calm were styled Olympian by his admirers — who added that, like Zeus, he could on occasion overbear opposition by the majestic thunder of his oratory. The long and steady confidence given him honors the people of Athens no less than it honors Pericles himself. His noblest praise is that which he claimed for himself upon his deathbed, — that, with all his authority, and despite the bitterness of party strife, “no Athenian has had to put on mourning because of me.” 2. The Assembly met on the Pnyx, a sloping hill whose side formed a kind of natural theater. There were forty regular meetings each year, and many special meetings. Thus a pa- triotic citizen was called upon to give at least one day a week to the state in this matter of political meetings alone. The As- sembly had made great gains in 'power. All public officials had become its obedient servants. Even the Generals were its creatures, and might he recalled” by it any day. No act of government was too small or too great for it to deal with. 3. “Juries” of citizens had been introduced by Solon, and their importance became fully developed under Pericles. Six thousand citizens were chosen each year for this duty, — mostly from the older men past the age for active work. One thousand of these were held in reserve. The others were divided into ten jury courts of five hundred each. Such a jury was “both judge and jury”: it decided each case by a majority vote, and there was no appeal from its verdict. On the whole the system worked well. In particular, any citizen of a subject city, wronged by an Athenian officer, was sure of redress before these courts, — which was one reason why Athenian officials in subject cities behaved well. 4. Since these courts tried political offenders, it was essential that they should not fall wholly into the hands of the rich. To prevent this, Pericles wisely introduced a small payment for jury duty (about enough to buy one man’s food). Afterward payment was extended to other political services — which was as The Assembly Juries Payment for all public service : a democratic device 106 THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE Political intelligence in Athens Architec- tural splen- dor of Athens The Acropolis proper and necessary as payment of congressmen and judges with us. About 10,000 Athenians were engaged at all times in public work. Scattered over the empire were some 700 leading officials to represent the imperial city, with many assistants. In the city itself, there were 700 city officials (overseers of weights and measures, harbor inspectors, and so on), 500 Counciltnen, and the 6000 jurymen. Always about a fourth of the grown-up citizens were in the civil service,^ and each Athenian could count upon serving his city at some time in almost every office. Such a system could not have worked without a high average of intelligence in the people. It did work well. Indeed it was jar the wisest and the best that had been seen in any great state up to that time. Great as was the service of Hellas to the world in free govern- ment, still her chief glory lies in her art and her literature ; and it was in the Athens of Pericles that these forms of Greek life developed most fully. Pericles made Athens the most beautiful city in the world, so that, ever since, her mere ruins have enthralled the admiration of men. Greek art was just reaching perfection ; and everywhere in Athens, under the charge of the greatest artists of this greatest artistic age, arose temples, colonnades, porticoes, inimitable to this day. The center of this architectural splendor was the ancient citadel, the Acropolis. That massive rock now became the “ holy hill.” No longer needed as a fortification, it was crowned with white marble, and devoted to religion and art. On the west (the only side at all accessible) was built a stately stair- way of sixty marble steps, leading to a series of noble colon- nades and porticoes {the Propylaea) of surpassing beauty. From these the visitor emerged upon the leveled top of the Acropolis, to find himself surrounded by temples and statues, any one of which alone might make the fame of the proudest 1 Civil service is a term used in contrast to military service. Our post- masters are among the civil servants of the Dominion, as a city engineer or a fireman is in the city civil service. ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS (BOETTICKER, WITH OMISSIONS) PLATE XX The Acropolis of Athens To-day — from the west. The temple in the foreground on the lower level (to the left) is the so-called Temple of Theseus (p. 79). INTELLECT AND ART 107 modern city. Just in front of the entrance stood the colossal bronze statue of Athene the Champion, whose broad spear point, glittering in the sun, was the first sign of the city to the mari- ner far out at sea. On the right of the entrance, and a little to the west, was the temple of the Wingless Victory ; and near the center of the open space rose the larger structures of the Erechtheum and the Parthenon (Plate XXII and “Plan” facing page 106). The Parthenon (“maiden’s chamber”) was the temple of The the virgin goddess Athene. It remains peerless in loveli- Parth®“®®^ ness among the buildings of the world. It was in the Doric style and of no great size, — only some 100 feet by 250, while the marble pillars supporting its low pediment rose only 34 feet from their base of three receding steps. The effect was due, not to the sublimity and grandeur of vast masses, but to the perfection of proportion, to exquisite beauty of line, and to the delicacy and profusion of ornament. In the pediments were carved fifty life-size or colossal statues ; and, within the colonnade, around the entire wall of the inner building, ran a broad band of relief sculptures, some four feet high, containing nearly 500 figures. This “frieze” represented an Athenian procession carrying offerings to the patron goddess Athene. All these sculptures, large or small, were finished with perfect skill, even in those parts so placed that no observer could see them “without going on the roof or opening a wall.” This ornamentation was cared for by Phidias and his pupils. Greek Phidias still ranks as the greatest of sculptors. Much of the sculpture work on the Acropolis he merely planned, but the great statues of Athene were his special work. Besides the bronze statue, there was, within the temple, an even more glorious one in gold and ivory, smaller than the other, but still five or six times larger than life. (When the Turks held Greece, they used the Parthe- non as a powder house. In 1687 an enemy’s cannon ball ex- ploded the powder, and left the temple in ruins, much as we see it to-day. About the year 1800, Lord Elgin secured most of the sculptures from the ruin for the British Museum, where they are known now as the Elgin Marbles.) 108 THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE The drama Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides Aristoph- anes The theater In the age of Pericles, the chief form of poetry became the tragic drama — the highest development of Greek literature. The drama began in the songs and dances of a chorus in honor of Dionysus, god of wine, at the spring festival of flowers and at the autumn vintage festival. The leader of the chorus came at length to recite stories, between the songs. Thespis at Athens, in the age of Pisis- tratus, haa developed this leader into an actor, — apart from the chorus and carrying on dialogue with it. Now Aeschylus added another actor, and his younger rival, Sopho- cles, a third. All the action had to be such as could have taken place in one day, and without change of scene. Aes- chylus, Sophocles, and their successor, Euripides, are the three greatest Greek drama- tists. Together they produced some two hundred tragedies, of which thirty-one survive. Comedy also grew out of the worship of the wine god, — not from the great religious festi- vals, however, but from the rude village merrymakings. “Attic comedy” kept traces of this rude origin in occasional coarseness ; and it was sometimes misused, to abuse men like Pericles and Socrates. Still, its great master, Aristophanes, for his wit and genius, must always remain one of the bright names in literature. Every Greek city had its “ theater” — a semicircular arrange- ment of rising seats, often cut into a hillside, with a small stage Sophocles. — A portrait statue, now in the Lateran Museum at Rome. PLATE XXI Above. — Theater of Dionysus at Athens To-day. Below. — The Stage of the Theater, showing the sculptured figures about it. — From the front. PLATE XXII Above. — The Pabthenon To-day — West Front. Below. — A Portico of the Erechtheum (“ Porch of the Maidens ”). The use of human figures for columns to sustain weight is rare in Greek architecture ; but in this case the artist secured an effect of serene repose. This temple to Athene was built during the stress of the Peloponnesian War, upon the site of an ancient shrine to the goddess in a palace of a legendary King Erechtheus. INTELLECT AND ART 109 at the open side of the circle for the actors. There was no inclosed building, except sometimes a few rooms for the actors, and there was none of the gorgeous stage scenery which has become a chief feature of our theaters. Neither did the Greek theater run every night. Performances took place at only two periods in the year — at the spring and autumn festivals to Dionysus — for about a week each season, and in the daytime. The great Theater of Dionysus, in Athens, was on the south- east slope of the Acropolis — the rising seats,^ cut in a semicircle into the rocky bluff, looking forth, beyond the stage, to the hills of southern Attica and over the blue waters of the Aegean. It could seat almost the whole free male population. Pericles secured from the public treasury the admission fee to the Theater for each citizen who chose to ask for it. The Greek stage was the modern pulpit and press in one, and this free admission was for religious and intellectual training, rather than for amusement. The art of public speech was studied zealously by all who Oratory hoped to take part in public affairs. Among no other people has oratory been so important and so effective. For almost two hundred years, from Themistocles to Demosthenes (p. 134), great statesmen swayed the Athenian state by their sonorous and thrilling eloquence ; and the citizens, day after day, packed the Pnyx to hang breathless for hours upon the persuasive lips of their leaders. Prose literature now began, with history as its leading form. History The three great historians of the time are Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xeno.phon. For charm in story-telling they have never been excelled. Herodotus was a native of Halicarnassus in Asia Minor. He traveled widely, lived long at Athens as the friend of Pericles, and finally in Italy completed his great History of the Persian Wars, with an introduction covering the world’s history up to that event. Thucydides, an Athenian general, wrote the history of the Peloponnesian War (p. 124 ff.) in 1 The stone seats were not carved out of the hill until somewhat later. During the age of Pericles, the men of Athens sat all over the hillside, on the ground or on stools which they brought with them. no THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE Philosophy Compared with the earlier philosophy Socrates which he took part. Xenophon also was an Athenian. He completed the story of the Peloponnesian War, and gave us, with other works, the Anabasis, an account of the expedition of the Ten Thousand Greeks through the Persian Empire in 401 B.c. (p. 130). The age of Pericles saw also a rapid development in philos- ophy, — and this movement, too, had Athens for its most important home. Anaxagoras of Ionia, the friend of Pericles, taught that the ruling principle in the universe was Mind : “ In the beginning all things were chaos ; then came Intelli- gence, and set all in order.” He also tried to explain comets and other strange natural phenomena, which had been looked upon as miraculous, and he amazed men of his time most of all by asserting that the sun was a red-hot mass probably as large as the Peloponnesus. The philosophers of the sixth century (p. 73) had tried to answer the question, — How did the universe come to be ? The philosophers of the age of Pericles asked mainly, — How does man know about the universe? That is, they tried to explain the working of the human mind. These early attempts at explana- tion were not very satisfactory ; so next came the Sophists, to declare all such explanations beyond the power of the human mind. Man, they held, cannot reach the truth itself, but must be content to know only appearances. Then came Socrates to complete the circle of ancient philosophy. Like the Sophists, he abandoned the attempt to understand the material universe, and ridiculed gently the attempted explana- tions of his friend, Anaxagoras. But he really differed widely from the Sophists. He sought knowledge about himself and his duties. He took for his motto, “Know thyself,” and consid- ered philosophy to consist in right thinking upon human conduct. True wisdom, he taught, is to knoiv what is good and to do what is right ; and he tried to make his followers see the difference between justice and injustice, temperance and intemperance, virtue and vice. Socrates was a poor man, an artisan who carved little images SOCRATES 111 of the gods for a living; and he constantly vexed his wife, The “ So- Xanthippe, by neglecting his trade, to talk in the market place, .» He wore no sandals, and dressed meanly. His large bald head and ugly face, with its thick lips and flat nose, made him good sport for the comic poets. His practice was to entrap unwary antagonists into public conversation by asking innocent-look- ing questions, and then, by the inconsistencies of their answers, to show how shallow their opinions were. This proceeding afforded huge merriment to the crowd of youths who followed the bare-footed philosopher, and it roused up bitter enemies among his victims. But his beauty of soul, his devotion to knowledge, and his largeness of spirit make him the greatest name in Greek history. When seventy years old (399 b.c.) Socrates was accused of Socrates’ impiety and of corrupting the youth, and was condemned to death. For thirty days he remained in jail, conversing daily in his usual manner with groups of friends who visited him. Two of his disciples (Plato and Xenophon) have given us ac- counts of these talks. On the last day, the theme was immor- tality. Some of the friends fear that death may be an endless sleep, or that the soul, on leaving the body, may “issue forth like smoke . . . and vanish into nothingness.” But Socrates c.omforts and consoles them, — convincing them, by a long day’s argument, that the soul is immortal, and picturing the lofty delight he anticipates in questioning the heroes and sages of olden times when he meets them soon in the abode of the blest. Then, just as the fatal hour arrives, one of the company (Crito) asks, “In what way would you have us bury you?” Socrates rejoins : “ Tn any way you like : only you must first get hold of me, and take care that I do not walk away from you.’ Then he turned to us, and added, with a smile : T cannot make Crito believe that I am the same Socrates who has been talking with you. He fancies that I am another Socrates whom he will soon see a dead body — and he asks. How shall he bury me? I have spoken many words to show that I shall leave you and go to the joys of the blessed. ... Be of good cheer, then, my dear Crito, and say that you are burying my body only — and do with that what is usual, or as you think best. ’ ” Extent of Athenian culture Pericles’ glorification of Athens 112 THE GREEKS — AGE OF PERICLES Friends of Socrates had made arrangements for his escape from prison before the day set for his execution ; .but he stead- fastly refused to go. To their pleadings he answered only by a playful discourse to the effect that “ Death is no evil ; but for Socrates to ‘ play truant ’ and injure the laws of his country, would be an evil.” And so he drank the fatal hemlock with a gentle jest upon his lips. His condemnation is the greatest blot upon the intelligence of the Athenian democracy. In the fifth century b.c. Athens gave birth to more great men of the first rank, it has been said, than the whole world has ever produced in any other equal period of time, and to that same center there swarmed other famous men from less-favored parts of Hellas. Despite the condemnation of Socrates, no other city in the world afforded such freedom of thought, and nowhere else was ability, in art or literature, so appreciated. The names that have been mentioned give but a faint impres- sion of the splendid throngs of brilliant poets, artists, philoso- phers, and orators, who jostled one another in the streets of the beautiful city that clustered round the temple-crowned Acropolis. During the second year of the Peloponnesian War (p. 124), Pericles delivered a great oration in honor of the Athe- nian dead, — a splendid glorification of the Athenian spirit “We are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes; and we culti- vate the mind without loss of manliness. Wealth we employ, not for talk and ostentation, but when there is a real use for it. To avow poverty with us is no disgrace; the true disgrace is in doing nothing to avoid it. An Athenian citizen does not neglect the state because he takes care of his own household ; and even those of us who are en- gaged in business have a very fair idea of politics.- We regard a man who takes no interest in public affairs, not as a harmless, but as a mis- chievous character. . . . And we shall assuredly not be without wit- nesses. There are mighty monuments of our power which will make us the wonder of this and of succeeding ages. ... For we have com- pelled every land and every sea to open a path for our valor, and have everywhere planted eternal memorials of our friendship and of our enmity. . . . Athens is the school of Hellas.” Three limitations in this noble culture must be noted : 1. It rested on slavery. The main business of the citizen A Restoration of the Parthenon WEAK POINTS IN THEIR CULTURE 113 was government and war. Trades and commerce were left largely to the free non-citizen class, and unskilled hand labor was performed mainly by slaves. As a rule, it is true, this slavery was not harsh. The slaves were frequently Greeks, of the same speech and culture as their masters ; but in some ways, this made their lot all the harder to bear. There was always the possibility of cruelty ; and in the mines, even in Attica, the slaves were killed off Dru tally by merciless hardships. 2. Greek culture was for males only. It is not likely that the wife of Phidias or of Thucydides could read. The women of the working classes, especially in the country, necessarily mixed somewhat with men in their work. But among the well-to-do, women had lost the freedom of the simple and rude society of Homer’s time, without gaining much in return. Ex- cept at Sparta (p. 83) they appeared rarely on the streets, and, even at home, passed a secluded life in separate women’s apart- ments. (The rule is merely emphasized by its one exception. No account of the Athens of Pericles should omit mention of Aspasia. She was a native of Miletus, and had come to Athens as an adventuress. There she won the love of Pericles. Since she was not an Athenian citizen he could not marry her; but, until his death, she lived with him in all respects as his wife — a union not grievously offensive to Greek ideas. The dazzling wit and beauty of Aspasia made her home the focus of the intellectual life of Athens. Anaxagoras, Socrates, Phidias, Herodotus, delighted in her conversation ; and Pericles consulted her on the most important public matters. But she is the only woman who need be named in Greek history after the time of Sappho.) 3. With all their intellectual power, the Greeks of Pericles’ day had not thought of finding out the secrets of nature by experiment. They had only such knowledge of the world about them as they had chanced upon, or such as they could attain by observation of nature as she showed herself to them. To ask questions, and make nature answer them, by systematic experiment, is a method of reaching knowledge which belongs, in any marked degree, only to recent times. But, before the Limitations in Greek culture 114 THE GREEKS — AGE OF PERICLES Greeks, men had reached about all the mastery over nature that was possible without that method. The Greek mind achieved wonders in literature and art and philosophy; but it did little to advance man’s power over nature. To make the Greek world at all real to us, we must think of even the best houses without plumbing — or drains of any sort ; beds without sheets or springs ; rooms without fire ; traveling without bridges and without even a stagecoach ; shoes without stockings ; clothes without buttons, or even a hook and eye. The Greek had to tell time without a watch, and to cross seas without steamships or wireless telegraphy or even a compass. He was civilized without being what we should call “ comfortable.” Perhaps all the more, he felt keenly the beauty of sky and hill and temple and statue and the human form. But in one respect this lack of control over nature was exceedingly serious. With- out modern scientific knowledge, and modern machinery, it has never been possible for man to produce wealth fast enough so that many could take sufficient leisure for refined and graceful living. There was too little wealth to go round. The civilization of the few rested necessarily upon slavery. This third limita- tion was the cause of the first. Religion The moral side of Greek culture falls short of the intellectual and morals Their religion had little to do with conduct toward men. Their good sense and clear thinking had freed their religion from the grossest features of Oriental worship ; but their moral ideas are to be sought mainly in their philosophy and literature, rather than in their stories about the gods. They accepted frankly the search for pleasure as natural and proper. Self- sacrifice had little place in their ideal ; but they did deeply admire the beauty of self-control and moderation. No society ever produced so many great men, but many societies have produced better men. At the same time, a few Greek teachers give us some of the noblest morality of the world, as the following brief quotations show : RELIGION AND MORALS 115 a. From the Odyssey. — “Verily the blessed gods love not fro ward deeds, but reverence justice and righteous acts.” h. From Aeschylus. — “Justice shines in smoke-grimed houses and holds in regard the life that is righteous ; she leaves with averted eyes the gold-bespangled palace which is unclean, and goes to the abode that is holy. c. Antigone, the heroine of a play by Sophocles, had knowingly in- curred the penalty of death by disobeying an unrighteous command of a wicked king. She justified her deed proudly, — “Nor did I deem thy edicts strong enough That thou, a mortal man, should’st overpass The unwritten laws of God that know no change.” d. A Prayer of Socrates (from Plato’s Phaedrus). — “Beloved Pan, and all ye other gods who haunt this place, give me beauty in the in- ward soul ; and may the outward and inward man be at one. May I reckon the wise to be the wealthy, and may I have such a quantity of gold as none but the temperate can carry.” Greek GirPs at Play — from a vase- painting. CHAPTER XII The home / EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE AGE OF PERICLES Greek houses, even those of the rich, were simple. The poor could not afford more ; and the rich man thought his house of little account. It was merely a place to keep his women folk and young children and some other valuable property, and to sleep in. His real life was passed outside. The poor man’s house was a one-story mud hut; and even a “well-to-do” house was merely a wooden frame, covered with sun-dried clay. Houses were built flush with the street, and on a level with it, — without even sidewalk or steps between. The door, too, usually opened out — so that passers-by were liable to bumps, unless they kept well to the middle of the narrow street. On the opposite page is given the ground plan of one of the few private houses of the fifth century which has been unearthed in a state to be traced out. This house was at Delos ; and it was something of a mansion, for the times. The street door opened into a small vestibule (A), about six feet by ten. This led to a square “hall” {D, D, D, D), which was the central feature of every Greek house of importance. In the center of the hall there was a “court,” open to the sky, and surrounded by a row of columns ten feet high. The columns were to uphold their side of the hall ceiling, — since the hall had no wall next the court. The court was paved with a beautiful mosaic. (Commonly, however, all floors in private houses were made of concrete, or merely of beaten earth.) From the hall there opened six rooms more. The largest (H) was the dining room and kitchen, with a small recess for the chimney in one corner. The other rooms were store rooms, or sleeping rooms. Any overflow of guests could be taken care of by couches in the hall. This whole floor was for males only. There was an upper story for the women, reached by a steep stairway in the lower hall, and projecting, perhaps, part way over the street. If a rich man’s house had only one story, there was at the rear a second half for the women, connected with the men’s half by a door in the partition wall. Sometimes there was a small walled garden at the back. 116 EVERYDAY LIFE 117 City houses were crowded close together, with small chance for windows on the sides. Sometimes narrow slits in the wall opened on the street. Otherwise, except for the one street door, the front was a blank wall. The Greeks did not have glass panes for windows. The houses were dark ; and most of the dim light came from openings on the central court. In cold damp weather (of which, happily, there was not much). Discomfort the house was exceedingly uncomfortable. The kitchen had a chimney ; but for other rooms the only artificial heat came Plan OF a Fifth-Century Delos House. — After Gardiner and Jevona. from small fires of wood or charcoal in braziers, — such as are still carried from room to room, on occasion, in Greece or Italy or Spain. The choking fumes which filled the room were not much more desirable than the cold, which they did little to drive away. Sometimes a large open fire in the court gave warmth to the hall. At night, earthenware lamps, on shelves or brackets, furnished light. There were no bathrooms, and no sanitary conveniences. The residence streets were narrow and irregular, — hardly Street more than crooked, dark alleys. They had no pavements; they were littered with all the filth and refuse from the houses. Splendid as were the 'public portions of Athens, the residence quarters were much like a squalid Oriental city of to-day. 118 THE GREEKS — AGE OP PERICLES The Greek family Public fountains, supplied by aqueducts, furnished pure drink- ing water ; but there was no provision for sewers or for flush- ing the streets. Wealthy men were beginning to build more comfortably on the hills near the city ; but war kept this prac- tice from becoming common. In the Oriental lands a man was at liberty to have as many wives in his household as he chose to support. Poor men usually were content with one ; but, among the rich, polygamy was the rule. A Greek had only one wife. Imperfect as Greek family life was, the adoption of “ monogamy” was a great step forward. Greek Women. — From a bowl painting. Marriage was arranged by parents. The young people as a rule had never seen each other. Girls were married very young — by fifteen or earlier. Not till the evening before her marriage did the girl put away her doll, — offering it then solemnly on the shrine of the maiden goddess Artemis. Among the wealthy classes, the wives spent the rest of their days indoors — ex- cept on some rare festival occasions. The model wife learned to oversee the household (Davis’ Readings, I, No. 99) ; but in most homes this duty was left to trained slaves, and the wife dawdled away the day listlessly at her toilet or in vacant idle- ness, much as in an Eastern harem to-day. The vase pictures show her commonly with a mirror. Unwholesome living led to EVERYDAY LIFE 119 excessive use of red and white paint, and other cosmetics, for the complexion. Law and public opinion allowed the father to “expose” a new-born child to die. This practice was common among the poor, especially for girl babies. (Boys would offer sacrifices, in time, at the father’s tomb, and they could fight for the city.) Till the age of seven, boys and girls lived together in the women’s apartments. Then the boy began his school life. Most of the hand labor was busied in tilling the soil. The farmer manured his land skillfully. Some districts, like Cor- inth and Attica, could not furnish food enough for their .popu- lations from their own soil. Athens imported grain from other parts of Hellas and from Thrace and Egypt. This grain was paid for, in the long run, by the export of her factories. (Davis’ Readings, I, No. 76, gives a list of twenty-five handicrafts used in beautifying the Acropolis.) In these factories, the place taken now by machinery was taken then, in large part, by slaves. The owner of a factory did not commonly own all the slaves employed in it. Any master of a skilled slave might “ rent ” him out to a factory. The villages of Attica, outside Athens, were mainly occupied by farmers and farm laborers. Commerce was centered in the Piraeus. In Athens, the poorer classes worked at their trades or in their shops from sunrise to sunset — with a holiday about one day in three. Their pay was small, because of the compe- tition of slave labor ; but they needed little pay to give them most of the comforts of the rich — ' except constant leisure. The Greek artisan worked deliberately and took a noble pride in his work. The stone masons who chiseled out the fluted columns of the Parthenon felt themselves fellow workmen with Phidias. A rich Athenian citizen owned lands outside the city, worked by slaves and managed by some trusted steward. Probably he also had money invested in trading vessels, though he left their management to agents in the Piraeus. Some revenue he drew from money at interest with the bankers ; and he drew large sums, too, from the “rent” of slaves to the factories. Occupations Work of the poor Delight in work The rich 120 THE GREEKS — AGE OF PERICLES Daily life of a Greek gentleman Like the poorer citizens, the rich man rose with the sun. A slave poured water over his face and hands, or perhaps over his naked body, from a basin, (Poor men like Socrates bathed at the public fountains.) He then broke his fast on a cup of wine and a dry crust of bread. Afterward, perhaps he rode into the country, to visit one of his farms there, or for a day ’s hunting. If, instead, he remained within the city, he left his house at once, stopping, probably, at a barber’s to have his beard and finger nails attended to, as well as to gather the latest news from the barber’s talk. The latter half of the morning would find him strolling through the shaded arcades about the market place, among throngs of his fellows, stopping for conver- sation with friends — with whom, sometimes, he sat on the benches interspersed among the colonnades. At such times, he was always followed by one or two handsome slave boys, to run errands. At midday, he returned home for a light lunch. In the afternoon, if a student, he took to his rolls of papyrus ; if a statesman, perhaps he prepared his speech for the next meeting of the Assembly ; sometimes, he visited the public gaming houses. Then, after exercise in a gymnasium, he bathed at a public bathing house, hot, cold, or vapor bath, as his taste decided; and here again he held conversation with friends, while resting, or while the slave attendants rubbed him with oil and ointment. Toward sunset, he once more visited his home, unless he was to dine out. If the evening meal was to be, for a rare occasion, at home and without guests, he ate with his family, — his wife sitting at the foot of the couch where he reclined; and soon after- ward he went to bed. More commonly, he entertained guests — whom he had invited to dinner as he met them at the market place in the morning — or he was himself a guest elsewhere. Such days were not allowed to become monotonous at Athens. For several years of his life, the citizen was certain to be busied most of the time in the service of the state (p. 106). At other times, the meetings of the Assembly and the religious festivals and the theater took at least one day out of every three. The evening banquet played a large part in Greek life, EVERYDAY LIFE 121 As guests arrived, they took their places in pairs, on couches. The which were arranged around the room, each man reclining on his left arm. Slaves removed the sandals or shoes, wash- ing the dust from the feet, and passed bowls of water for the hands. They then brought in low three-legged tables, one The Wrestlers. — A copy of a famous statue by Myron, a younger con- temporary of Phidias. Myron excelled in depicting action in marble, where his Greek predecessors for the most part had represented their subjects in repose. Cf. Plate after 184. before each couch, on which they afterward placed course after course of food. The meals were simple. Food was cut into small pieces in the kitchen. No forks or knives were used at table. Men ate with a spoon, or, more commonly, with the fingers ; and 122 THE GREEKS — AGE OF PERICLES at the close, slaves once more passed bowls for washing the hands. When the eating was over, the real business of the evening began — with the wine. This was mixed with water, and drunkenness was not common; but the drinking lasted late, with serious or playful talk, and singing and story-telling. School Scenes. — A Bowl Painting. — Instruments ol instruction, mostly musical, hang on the walls. In the first half, one instructor is correcting the exercise of a boy who stands before him. Another is showing how to use the flute. The seated figures, with staffs, are “pedagogues.” and with forfeits for those who did not perform well any part assigned them by the “ master of the feast” (one of their number chosen by the others when the wine appeared). Often the host had musicians come in, with jugglers and dancing girls. Respectable women never appeared on these occasions. EVERYDAY LIFE 123 Only on marriage festivals, or some special family celebration, did the women of a family meet male guests at all. Education at Athens was in marked contrast with Spartan Education education. It aimed to train harmoniously the intellect, the sense of beauty, the moral nature, and the body. At school, the boy was constantly under the eye not only of the teacher, but also of a trusted servant of his own family, called a pedagogue. ^ The chief subjects for study were Homer and music. Homer, it has well been said, was to the Greek as Bible, Shakespeare, and Robinson Crusoe. The boy learned to write on papyrus with ink. But papyrus was costly, and the elementary exer- cises were carried on with a sharp instrument on tablets coated with wax. Physical training began with the child and continued through old age. No Greek youth would pass a day without devot- ing some hours to developing his body and to overcoming any physical defect or awkwardness that he might have. All classes of citizens, except those bound by necessity to the work- shop, met for exercise. The result was a perfection of physical power and beauty never attained so universally by any other people. Imaginative Exercises. — 1. A captive Persian’s letter to a friend after Plataea. 2. A dialogue between Socrates and Xanthippe. 3. An address by a Messenian to his fellows in their revolt against Sparta. 4. Extracts from a diary of Pericles. 5. A day at the Olympic games (choose some particular date). Read Davis’ A Day in Old Athens and Nos. 76-80, 88-97, from his Readings. Two very valuable and readable little books upon the topics of the last two chapters are Grant’s Greece in the Age of Pericles and Abbott’s Pericles (especially the opening chapters). ^ The word meant “boy-leader.” Its use for “teacher” is later,, Sparta and Athens The Pelo- ponnesian War, 431- 404 B.C. An Athenian Warship {Trireme).^ CHAPTER XIII THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR AND THE FALL OF HELLAS Athens stood for progress ; Sparta hated change. The cities of the Athenian Empire were Ionian, democratic, and commer- cial ; most of the cities of the Peloponnesian League were Dorian, ruled by land-holding aristocracies. These differences gave rise to mutual distrust and dislike. Still, if none of the Pelopon- nesian cities had had interests on the sea, the two powers might not have crossed each other’s paths. But Corinth and Megara (allies of Sparta) were trading cities, and, with the growth of Athenian commerce, they feared ruin for themselves. So, in 431 B.C. Corinth succeeded in persuading Sparta to declare war on Athens. The struggle lasted twenty-seven years and ruined the promise of Greece. The Peloponnesian League could muster a hundred thousand hoplites, against whom in that day no army in the world could stand ; but it could not keep many men in the field longer than a few weeks. Athens had only some twenty-six thousand hop- lites at her command, and half of these were needed for distant garrison duty. But she had a nary even more unmatched on the sea than the Peloponnesian army was on land. Her walls were impregnable. The islands of Euboea and Salamis, and the open spaces within the Long Walls, she thought, could receive her ^ From an Athenian relief. Only the highest “ bank ” of rowers is visible, but the oars of the two other banks are shown. (They projected through portholes, and the rowers were protected from arrows by the sides of the ship.) There were 174 oarsmen and about 20 other sailors to each ship, for helmsmen, lookouts, overseers of the oarsmen, and so on. And a warship never carried less than ten fully armed soldiers. The Athenians usually sent from 20 to 25 in each ship. The ships were about 120 feet long, and less than 20 feet wide. 124 WAR BETWEEN SPARTA AND ATHENS 125 country people with their flocks and herds. Grain ships from the Black Sea coasts could enter the Piraeus as usual, however the Spartans might hold the open country of Attica. Athens could support her population for a time from her annual revenues and from the immense surplus of 6000 talents ($6,600,000) in her treasury. The Spartans marched each year into Attica with over- whelming force, and remained there for some weeks, laying waste the crops, burning the villages, and cutting down the olive groves, up to the very walls of Athens. At first, with frenzied rage, the Athenians clamored to march out against the invader ; but Pericles strained his great authority to prevent such a disaster, and finally he convinced the people that they must bear this insult and ruin with patience. Meantime, an Athenian fleet was always sent to ravage the coasts and harbors of Pelo- ponnesus and to conquer various exposed allies of Sparta. Each party could inflict considerable damage, but neither could strike a vital blow. But a tragic disaster fell upon Athens, which no one in that day could have foreseen. A plague had been ravaging western Asia, and in the second year of the war it reached the Aegean. In Athens it was peculiarly deadly. The people of all Attica, crowded into the one city, were living under unusual and un- wholesome conditions ; and the pestilence returned there each summer for several years. It slew more than a fourth of the popu- lation, paralyzed industry, and shattered the proud and joyous self-trust of the Athenian people. The causes of the pestilence are told by Thucydides: — “When the country people of Attica arrived in Athens, a few had homes of their own, or found friends to take them in. But far the greater number had to find a place to live on some vacant spot or in the temples of the gods and chapels of the heroes. . . . Many also camped down in the towers of the walls, or wherever else they could; for the city proved too small to hold them.” And, adds Thucydides with grim irony, “While these country folk were dividing the spaces be- tween the Long Walls and settling there,” the Generals and Council were “paying great attention to mustering a fleet for ravaging the Peloponnesian coasts.” The Plague in Athens 126 THE GREEKS Death of Pericles Athenian disaster in Sicily Sparta betrays the Asiatic Greeks to Persia The deadliest blow of the plague was the striking down of Pericles in the third year of the war. Never had the Athenians so needed his calm and fearless judgment. He was succeeded by a new class of leaders, — men of the people, like Cleon the tanner, — men of strong will and much force, but rude, untrained, and ready to surrender their own convictions in order to win the favor of the crowd. Such men led Athens into many blunders and crimes. Over against them stood only Alcibiades, a bril- liant, unprincipled ad- venturer, and a group of incapable aristocrats, led by Nicias, a good but stupid man. In 413 B.C., after a whole generation had grown up in war, the superstition and mismanagement of Nicias caused the loss (in an expedition against Syracuse) of two hundred perfectly equipped Athenian ships and over forty thousand men — among them eleven thousand of the flower of the Athenian hoplites. Even after this crushing disaster Athens refused peace that should take away her empire, and the war lasted nine years more — part of the time with Athens as supreme in the Aegean as ever. But in 412, immediately after the destruction of the Athenian army in Sicily, Persian satraps appeared again upon the Aegean coast. Sparta at once bought the aid of their gold by betraying the freedom of the Asiatic Greeks, — to whom the Athenian name had been a shield for seventy years. Persian funds then The Hermes op Praxiteles. — Praxit- eles rivaled his master, Phidias; and this statue, though so sadly mutilated, remains one of the most famous sur- viving masterpieces of Greek art. SPARTAN SUPREMACY, 404-371 B.C. 127 built fleet after fleet for Sparta; and slowly Athens was ex- hausted, despite some brilliant victories. In 405, her last fleet was surprised and captured at Aegospotami (Goat Rivers). Apparently the officers had been plotting for an oligarchic revolution ; and the sailors had been discouraged and demoral- ized, even if they were not actually betrayed by their com- manders. Lysander, the Spartan commander, in cold blood put to death the four thousand Athenian citizens among the captives. This slaughter marks the end. Athens still held out, despair- ing but stubborn, until starved into submission by a terrible siege. Corinth and Thebes wished to raze it from the earth, but Sparta had no mind to do away with so useful a check upon those cities. She compelled Athens to renounce all claims to empire, to give up all alliances, to surrender all her ships but twelve. The Long Walls and the defenses of the Piraeus were demolished, to the music of Peloponnesian flutes ; and Hellas was declared free ! It remained only to see to what foreign master Greece should fall. From the Persian Wars to the fall of Athens there had been seventy-five glorious years. From the fall of Athens to the fall of Hellas there were about as many years more — mainly of shame and of profitless wars. For thirty-seven years, Sparta was supreme. Every- where she set up oligarchic governments. The cities of the old Athenian Empire found that they had exchanged a mild, wise rule for a coarse and stupid despotism. Their old tribute was doubled ; their self-government was taken away ; bloodshed and confusion ran riot in their streets. Usually the management of a city was given to an aristocratic board of ten men, called a decarchy (“rule of ten”), commonly with a Spartan garrison in the citadel to guard against demo- cratic risings. The garrisons plundered at will, and grew rich from extortion and bribes ; and the decarchies were slavishly subservient to their Spartan masters, while they wreaked upon their fellow-citizens a long pent-up aristocratic FaU of Athens Spartan premacy 404-371 B.C. 128 THE GREEKS Spartan decay The Thirty at Athens vengeance, in confiscation, outrage, expulsion, assassination, and massacre. In Sparta itself luxury and corruption replaced the old sim- plicity. Property was gathered into the hands of a few, while many Spartans grew too poor to support themselves in their barrack life. These poorer men ceased to be looked upon as citizens. They were not permitted to vote in the Assembly, and were known as “In- feriors.” The 10,000 citizens, of the Per- sian War period, shrank to 2000. For a time even Athens remained a victim to Spartan tyr- anny, like any petty Ionian city. During the war, the old oli- garchic party, so long helpless, had organ- ized secret “clubs” to conspire against the democratic gov- ernment. After the surrender, in 404, Lysander appointed a committee of thirty from these clubs to undo the reforms of Pericles and Clisthenes and Solon, and “to reestablish the constitution of the fathers.” These men (a triple decarchy) were known as “the Thirty Tyrants.” They called in a Spartan garrison, to whom they gave the fortress of the Acrop- olis ; they disarmed the citizens and began a bloody and greedy reign of terror. Rich democrats and alien merchants were put to death or driven into exile, in order that their property might be confiscated. (Davis’ Readings, I, No. 100.) Copy of a Satyr by Praxiteles. — This is Hawthorne’s “Marble Faun.” SPARTAN SUPREMACY, 404-371 B.C. 129 Despite the orders of Sparta, such exiles and other democratic fugitives were sheltered by Thebes. That city felt aggrieved that her services in the Peloponnesian War had received no reward from Sparta, and now she would have been glad to see Athens more powerful again. A year later, a daring band of these Athenian exiles marched secretly from Thebes by night and seized the Piraeus. The aliens of the harbor rose in their Present State of Theater of Apollo at Delphi. — Compare witii cuts facing p. 109. This view is taken from the ruins of the Temple. support, and they defeated the Spartan garrison and the forces of the Thirty. The restored democracy showed itself generous as well as moderate. A few of the most guilty of the Thirty were punished, but for all others a general amnesty was declared. This moderation contrasted so favorably with the cut-throat rule of the recent Athenian experiments at oligarchy, that Athens was undisturbed in future by revolution. Meantime, important events were taking place in the East. In 401, the weakness of the Persian Empire was shown strik- ingly. Cyrus the Younger, brother of the king Artaxerxes, en- March of the Ten Thousand 130 THE GREEKS New Persian wars Theban revolution deavored to seize the Persian throne. While a satrap in Asia Minor, Cyrus had furnished Sparta the money to keep her fleet together before the battle of Goat Rivers ; and now, through Sparta’s favor, he was able to enlist ten thousand Greeks in his army. Cyrus penetrated to the heart of the Persian Empire ; but in a great battle near Babylon, he was killed, and his Asiatic troops routed. The Ten Thousand Greeks, however, proved unconquer- able by the Persian half million. By treachery the Greek commanders were entrapped and murdered ; but, under the leadership of Xenophon (pp. 33, 110), the Ten Thousand made a remarkable retreat to the Black Sea. Until this time the Greeks had waged their contests with Persia only along the coasts of Asia. After the Ten Thousand had marched, almost at will, through so many hostile nations, the Greeks began to dream of conquering the Asiatic continent. Indeed, in 396, Agesilaus, king of Sparta, invaded Asia Minor with a large army; but, in full career of conquest, was called back by revolts in Greece. Sparta had used her power, with brutal cunning, to keep down the beginnings of greatness everywhere else in Hellas, breaking up promising leagues and even dispersing the inhabit- ants of Mantinea (leading city of neighboring Arcadia) into villages. Naturally, alliance after alliance rose against hcT- — until Anally she was overthrown by her old ally, Thebes — whose citadel had been seized treacherously in time of peace, by a Spartan army. That garrison set up a Theban government of oligarchs, which drove crowds of patriotic citizens into exile. Athens sheltered these exiles, as Thebes had protected Athenian fugi- tives from the Thirty Tyrants. Then a number of daring young men among the exiles returned secretly to Thebes, and, through the aid of friends there, were admitted (disguised as dancing girls) to a banquet where the Theban oligarchs were already deep in wine. They killed the drunken traitors with their daggers. Then, running through the streets, they called, the people to expel the Spartans from the citadel. Thebes THEBAN LEADERSHIP— EPAMINONDAS 131 became a democracy under the lead of Epaminondas, who now stood to Thebes somewhat as Pericles had done to Athens. A powerful Spartan army at once invaded Boeotia (in 371 Battle of B.c.) and met with an overwhelming defeat by a smaller Theban I^®'^ctra force at Leuctra. This amazing result was due to the military genius of Epaminondas. Hitherto the Greeks had fought in long lines, from eight to twelve men deep. Epaminondas massed his best troops in a solid column, fifty men deep, on the left, opposite the Spartan wing in the Peloponnesian army. His other troops were spread out as thin as pos- sible. The solid phalanx was set in motion first ; then the thinner center and right wing advanced more slowly so as to en- gage the attention of the enemy opposite, but not to come into action. The weight of the massed Theban charge crushed through the Spartan line, and trampled it under. Four hun- dred of the seven hundred Spartans, with their king and with a thousand other Peloponnesian hoplites, went down in ten minutes. The mere loss of men was fatal enough, now that Spartan Fall of citizenship was so reduced (the number of full citizens after this battle did not exceed fifteen hundred) ; but the effect upon the military prestige of Sparta was even more deadly. At one stroke Sparta sank into a seco7id-rate power; but she met her fate with heroic composure. The news of the overthrow did not interfere with a festival that was going on in Sparta, and only the relatives of the survivors of the battle appeared in mourning. For a brief time after Leuctra, Thebes was the head of Greece. Epaminondas was great as general, statesman, and philosopher. In his earlier days he had been looked upon as a dreamer ; and 132 THE GREEKS Theban supremacy under Epanunon- das FaU of Thebes The Macedonian conquest Philip n when the oligarchs of Thebes drove out “active” patriots they only sneered while Epaminondas continued calmly to talk of liberty to the young. Later, it was recognized that, more than any other man, he had prepared the way for a free democracy. Unhappily, the few years remaining of his life Epaminondas was compelled to give mainly to war. Laconia was repeatedly invaded. During these campaigns, on one side of Sparta, Epaminondas freed Messenia — which for two centuries had been a mere district of Laconia — and on the other side, or- ganized Arcadia into a federal union, so as to “ surround Sparta with a perpetual blockade.” The great Theban aided the Mes- senians to found a new capital, Messene, and in Arcadia he restored Mantinea. In this district he also founded Megalopo- lis, “the Great City,” by combining forty scattered villages. The leadership of Thebes, however, rested solely on the supreme genius of her one statesman. In 362, for the fourth time, Epaminondas marched against Sparta, and at Mantinea won another complete victory. The Spartans had been unable to learn ; and went down again before the same tactics that had crushed them nine years earlier at Leuctra. Mantinea was the greatest land battle ever fought between Hellenes ; but the victory bore no fruit, for Epaminondas fell on the field, and his city sank at once to a slow and narrow policy. The failure of the Greek cities to unite into larger states made it certain that sooner or later they must fall to some outside power. Sparta and Thebes (with Persian aid) had been able to prevent Athenian leadership ; Thebes and Athens had overthrown Sparta ; Sparta and Athens had been able to check Thebes. Twenty years of anarchy followed; and then Greece fell to a foreign master. Until some years after Leuctra, the Macedonians (part of the outer rim of the Greek race) had been only a loose union of barbarous tribes. Then Philip II (ambitious, crafty, sagacious, persistent, unscrupulous, an unfailing judge of character, and a marvelous organizer) made his people a nation, and set himself to make them true Greeks by making them the leaders of Greece. CONQUEST BY MACEDONIA 133 At his accession Macedon was a poor country without a good harbor. The first need was an outlet on the sea. Philip found one by conquering the Chalcidic peninsula — whose gold mines furnished him a huge revenue. Soon he turned his energies to Greece. In all Greek states, among the pretended patriots, there were secret servants in his pay, while even some farsighted leaders (like Isocrates at Athens) seem to have believed honestly that the hope of Greece lay in union under Macedon. Philip’s wealth made it possible for him to keep a disciplined The army ready for use. This army was as superior to the two- months citizen armies of Hellas as his secret and persistent “diplomacy” was more cunning and effective than the changing 134 THE GREEKS Demos- thenes and his Philippics Philip’s conquest of Greece counsels and open plans of a public assembly. During a stay at Thebes while a boy, Philip had become familiar with the Theban phalanx. He now enlarged and improved it, so that the ranks presented five rows of bristling spears project- ing beyond the front rank of soldiers. The flanks were protected by light- armed troops, and the Macedonian nobles fur- nished the finest of cav- alry. At the same time a field “artillery” first ap- pears, made up of curious engines able to throw darts and great stones three hun- dred yards. Such a mix- ture of trained troops, on a permanent footing, was altogether novel. Philip created the instrument with which his son was to conquer the world. The only man who constantly opposed Philip (although in vain) was Demosthenes the Athenian. Demosthenes was the greatest orator of Greece. To check Macedonia became the one aim of his life ; and the last glow of Greek independence flames up in his passionate appeals to Athens that she defend Hellas against Macedon as she had once done against Persia. “ Suppose,” he cried in one of his noble “ Philippics,” “ that you have one of the gods, as surety that Philip will leave you untouched, in the name of all the gods, it is a shame for you in ignorant stupidity to sacrifice the rest of Hellas ! ” In 338 B.C., Philip threw off the mask, invaded Greece, and crushed the combined Athenians and Thebans at Chaeronea. Then a congress of Greek states at Corinth recognized Macedonia as the head of Greece. The separate states were to keep their local self-government, but foreign matters, including war and peace, were committed to Philip. Philip was also declared general in chief of the armies of Greece for a war against Persia. Philip II of Macedon. — A gold me- dallion by Alexander. PART ni - THE GEAEOO-ORIENTAL WORLD The seed-ground of European civilization is neither Greece nor the Orient, but a world joined of the two. — Benjamin Ide Wheeler. CHAPTER XIV ALEXANDER JOINS EAST AND WEST Two years after Chaeronea, Philip of Macedon was assas- sinated. He was just ready to begin the invasion of Asia ; and the work was taken up by his son Alexander. As a boy, Alexander had been fearless and self-willed, with fervent affec- tions. He was devoted to Homer, and he knew the Iliad by heart. Homer’s Achilles he claimed for an ancestor and took for his ideal. His education was directed by Aristotle (p. 143), and from this great teacher he learned to admire Greek culture. At his father’s death Alexander was a stripling of twenty years. He was to prove a rare military genius. He never refused an engagement and never lost a battle, and he could be shrewd and adroit in diplomacy ; but at this time he was known only as a rash boy. Revolt broke out everywhere ; but the young king showed himself at once both statesman and general. With marvelous rapidity he struck crushing blows on this side and on that. For a second revolt Thebes was sacked and leveled with the ground, except the house of Pindar (p. 73), and the miser- able thirty thousand survivors were sold as slaves. Then, with his authority firmly reestablished, Alexander turned to attack Persia. In 334 b.c., he crossed the Hellespont with 35,000 troops, an army quite enough to scatter any Oriental force, and as large as any general could handle well in that day on long marches in a hostile country. The route of march can best be traced on the map opposite. The conquest of the 135 Alexander “ the Great,” 336 B.C. Order restored Conquest of the Persian Empire 136 THE GRAECO-ORIENTAL WORLD Asia Minor: the Granicus Syria; Issus Interior of Asia: Arbela Campaigns in the East empire took five years, and the story falls into three parts, each marked by a famous battle. 1. The Persian satraps of Asia Minor met the invaders at the Granicus, a small stream in ancient Troyland. Alexander himself led the Macedonian charge through the river and up the steep bank into the midst of the Persian cavalry, where he barely escaped death. The victory made him master of all Asia Minor. 2. To strike at the heart of the empire at once would have been to leave behind him a large Persian fleet, to encourage revolt in Greece. Alexander wisely determined to secure the entire coast, and so make safe his ‘Tine of communication.” Accordingly he turned south, to reduce Phoenicia and Egypt. Meantime the Persians had gathered a great army ; but in a narrow defile at Isstis Alexander easily overthrew their host of six hundred thousand men led by King Darius in person. He now assumed the title. King of Persia. The siege of Tyre (p. 47) detained him a year ; but Egypt welcomed him as a deliverer. While in that country he founded Alexandria at the mouth of the Nile — a city destined to be for many centuries a commercial and intellectual center for the world, where before there had been only a haunt of pirates. 3. Darius now proposed that he and Alexander should share the empire between them, with the Euphrates for the dividing line. Rejecting this offer contemptuously, Alexander took up his march for the interior. Following the ancient route from Egypt to Assyria, he met Darius near Arhela, not far from ancient Nineveh. The Persians are said to have numbered a million men. Alexander purposely allowed them choice of time and place, and by a third decisive victory proved the hopelessness of their resistance. Darius never gathered another army. The capitals of the empire — Babylon, Susa, Ecbatana, Persepolis — surrendered, with enormous treasure in gold and silver, and the Persian Empire had fallen (331 B.C.). The next six years went to more desperate warfare in the eastern mountain regions, and in India. Alexander carried his arms as far east from Babylon as Babylon was from Mace- FUSION OF EAST AND WEST 137 ionia. He traversed great deserts ; subdued the warlike and princely chiefs of Bactria and Sogdiana up to the steppes of the wild Tartar tribes beyond the Oxus ; twice forced the passes of the Hindukush; conquered the valiant mountaineers of what is now Afghanistan; and led his army into the fertile and populous plains of northern India. He crossed the Indus, won realms beyond the ancient Persian province of the Punjab, and planned still more distant empires ; but on the banks of the Hyphasis River his faithful Macedonians refused to be led farther, to waste away in inhuman perils ; and the chagrined conqueror was compelled to return to Babylon, This city he made his capital, and here he died of a drunken fever two years later (323 b.c.) at the age of thirty-two. Alexander began his conquest to avenge the West upon the East. But he came to see excellent and noble qualities in Oriental life, and he rose to a broader view. He aimed to fuse the East and the West into a new civilization. Persian youths were trained by thousands in Macedonian fashion to replace the veterans of Alexander’s army; Persian nobles were wel- comed at court and given high offices ; and the government of Asia was intrusted largely to Asiatics, on a system similar to that of Darius the Great. Alexander himself adopted Persian manners and customs, and he bribed and coaxed and forced his officers and soldiers to do the like. At the same time Alexander saw that to fulfill this mission he must open the East to Greek ideas. The races might mingle their blood ; the Greek might learn much from the Orient, and in the end be absorbed by it; hid the thought and art of little Hellas, with its active energy, must leaven the vast 'passive mass of the East. One great measure, for this end, was the founding of chains of cities, to bind the conquests together and to become the homes of Hellenic influence. Alexander himself built seventy of these towns. Their walls sprang up under the pick and spade of the soldiery along the lines of march. One great city, we are told, walls and houses, was completed in twenty days. Merging of East and West Hellenism the leaven for the mass The many Alexandrias 138 THE GRAECO-ORIENTAL WORLD Greek col- onies in the Orient Cities in the age of Alexander Sometimes these places were mere garrison towns on distant frontiers, but oftener they became mighty emporiums at the intersection of great lines of trade. There was an Alexandria on the Jaxartes, on the Indus, on the Euphrates, as well as on the Nile. Many of these cities remain great capitals to this day, like Herat and Kandahar. (Iskandar, or Kandahar, is an Oriental form of the Greek name Alexander.) This building of Greek cities was continued by Alexander’s successors. Once more, and on a vaster scale than ever before, the Greek genius for colonization found vent. Each new city had a Greek nucleus. At first this consisted mainly of worn-out Alexander. Alexander in a Lion-hunt. The two sides of a gold medallion struck by Alexander at Tarsus. veterans, left behind as a garrison; but adventurous youth, emigrating from old Hellas to win fortune, continued to rein- force the Greek element. The native village people roundabout were gathered in to make the bulk of the inhabitants ; and these also soon became “Hellenized.” These cities were well paved. They had ample provision for lighting by night, a good water supply, and police protection. They met in their own assemblies, managed their own courts, and collected their own taxes. For centuries they made the backbone of Hellenism throughout the world. Greek was the ordinary speech of their streets ; Greek architecture built their temples, and Greek sculpture adorned them; they celebrated A NEW CIVILIZATION 139 Greek games and festivals. No longer in little Hellas alone, but over the whole East, in Greek theaters, vast audiences were educated by the plays of Euripides. The culture developed by a small people became the heritage of a vast Graeco-Oriental world. Wealth was enormously augmented in the West. The vast Wealth treasure of gold and silver which Oriental monarchs had hoarded augmented in secret vaults was thrown again into circulation, and large sums were brought back to Europe by returning adventurers, along with a new taste for Oriental luxuries. Manifold new comforts and enjoyments adorned and enriched life. A new era of scientific progress began. Alexander himself had Science the zeal of an explorer. When he first touched the Indus, he advanced thought it the upper course of the Nile ; but he built a great fleet of two thousand vessels, sailed down the river to the Indian Ocean, and then sent his friend Nearchus to explore that sea and to trace the coast to the mouth of the Euphrates. After a voyage of many months, Nearchus reached Babylon. He had mapped the coast line, made frequent landings, and collected a mass of observations and a multitude of strange plants and animals. At other times, scientific collections were made by Alexander, to be sent to his old instructor Aristotle, who em- bodied the results of his study upon them in a Natural History of fifty volumes. (At one time, it is said, a thousand men were engaged in making such collections.) Thus Alexander’s victories enlarged the map of the world once more, and made these vaster spaces the home of a higher culture. They grafted the neio West upon the old East, — a graft from which sprajig the plant of our later civilization. For Further Reading. — Davis’ Readings, I, Nos. 108-118, and Wheeler’s Alexander the Great. Wars of the Succession, 323-280 B.C. The third century B.C. Likeness to modern Europe Public Buildings of Pergamos, a Greek city of Asia, as “restored” by Thiersch. The city lay lower down, upon the plain. CHAPTER XV THE HELLENISTIC WORLD, 323-150 B.C. ^ Alexander left no heir old enough to succeed him. On his i deathbed, asked to whom he would leave his throne, he replied grimly, “ To the strongest” ; and for a half century, as he foresaw, ' the history of the civilized world was a horrible welter of war ' and assassination. About 280 B.C., something like a fixed order emerged. Then followed a period of sixty years, known as the Glory of Hellenism. The Hellenistic ^ world reached from the Adriatic to the Indus, and consisted of : (1) three great kingdoms, Syria, Egypt, and Macedonia ; (2) a broken chain of smaller monarchies scattered from Media to Epirus (some of them, like Pontus and Armenia, under dynasties descended from Persian princes) ; and (3) many single free cities like Byzantium and Rhodes. In many ways all the vast district bore a striking resemblance to modern Europe. There was a like division into great and small states, ruled by dynasties related by intermarriages; there was a common civilization, and a recognition of common interests as against outside barbarism ; and there were shifting alliances, 1 Hellenic refers to the old Hellas ; Hellenistic, to the wider world, of mixed Hellenic and Oriental character, after Alexander. 140 THE ALEXANDRIAN AGE 141 and many greedy wars to preserve “the balanee of power” or to secure trade advantages. There was a likeness to modern society, too, in the refinement of the age, in its excellences and its vices, the great learning, the increase in skill and in criti- cism, and, toward the close, in socialistic agitation among hungry sullen mobs against the ostentatious and waste- ful wealth that jostled them in the cities. One event was of gen- eral interest, the great Gallic invasion of 278 B.c. This was the first formidable barbarian at- tack upon the Eastern world since the Scythians had been chastised by the early Persian kings. A century before, hordes of these same Gauls had devastated northern Italy and sacked the rising city of Rome. N ow they poured into ex- hausted Macedonia, pen- The Apollo Belvedere, — representing the j . „ „ god defending his temple at Delphi with etrated into Greece as lar his thunderbolt from a raid of Gauls. The as Delphi, and carried statue commemorates a raid which in some 1 • , , . way was repulsed in disorder. havoc even into Asia. For a long period every great sovereign of the Hellenic world turned his arms upon them, until they were finally settled as peaceful colonists in a region of Asia Minor, which took from them the name Galatia. Immediately upon Alexander’s death, one of his generals, Ptolemy, chose Egypt for his province. His descendants, all known as Ptolemies, ruled the land until the Roman conquest. Ptolemy I built the first lighthouse to protect the growing •commerce of Alexandria. Ptolemy II (Philadelphus) restored Invasion by the Gauls Egypt 142 THE GRAECO-ORIENTAL WORLD The Alexandrian Age Literature the old canal from the Red Sea to the Nile, constructed other roads, and fostered learning more than any of the world rulers before him. About 220 B.c. there began a general -political decline in the Hellenistic world. The thrones of Syria, Egypt, and Mace- donia all fell to boys who showed a degeneracy ommon in Oriental ruling fami- lies after a few great generations. But the splendor of Hellenis- tic ci-cilizatio-n grew brighter for a half century longer. The whole period from 280 to 150 B.c. is often known as “the Alex- andrian Age” — from the Egyptian capital which led the other Alexandrian Lighthouse (To-wer of Pharos), as “restored” by Adler. The tower rose 325 feet (thirty stories) into the air, and from the summit a group of polished reflecting mirrors threw its light at night far out to sea. It seemed to the Jewish citizens of Alexandria centers of culture, to make real once more the old Hebrew story of the Pillar of Cloud by day and of Fire by night, - This many-sided age ■ to guide wanderers on the wa^^^^ produced new forms All night, said a Greek poet, will f the sailor, driving before the storm, see the in art and literature : fire gleam from its top.” This structure especially (1) the prose stood for more than 16 centuries. ^ ./ x / j. romance, a story of love and adventure, the forerunner of the modern novel ; (2) the pastoral poetr-y of Theocritus, which was to influence Virgil and Tennyson ; and (3) personal memoirs. Treatises on literary criticism abounded ; the science of grammar was devel- oped ; and poets prided themselves upon writing all kinds of verse equally well. Intellectually, in its faults, as in its virtues, the time strikingly resembles our own.^ ^ This period saw also the most important attempt at a federal government that the world was to know until the founding of the United States of America. For many years the Achaean League seemed about to revive the ancient glory of old Hellas ; but this promise was ruined by a selfish war with a reformed and “ socialistic ” Sparta, and Macedonian rule was again established. PLATO AND ARISTOTLE 143 Painting was carried to great perfection. According to Painting popular stories, Zeuxis painted a cluster of grapes so that birds “^ipture pecked at them, while Apelles painted a horse so that real horses neighed at the sight. Greek sculpture, too, produced some of its greatest work in this period. Among the famous pieces that survive are the Dying Gaul, the Apollo Belvedere (p. 141), the Venus of Milo (Melos), and the Laocoon group. After Socrates, Greek philosophy had three periods. {For Philosophy the Spartan and Theban period.) The most famous disciple of Socrates is known , best by his nick- name Plato {“ broad- browed”). His name, and that of his pupil and rival, Aristotle, of the next period, are among the greatest in the history of ancient thought, — among the very greatest, indeed, in all time. Plato taught that things are merely the shadows of ideas and that ideg^ alone_are real. This statement gives a very Venus {Aphrodite) of Melos. — This beautiful . „ . „ statue is now in the Louvre. imperleet picture ot his beautiful and mystical philosophy — which is altogether too complex to treat here. It is more important to know that, for the first time in history, Plato planned an ideal state (his |' Republic), — so prophesying a time when men shall build the world intelligently. {For the Macedonian period.) Aristotle, in sharp contrast with Plato, cared about things. Besides his philosophical treatises, he wrote upon rhetoric, logic, poetry, politics, physics and chemistry, and natural history ; and he built up all the knowl- edge gathered by the ancient world into one complete system. The Epicu- reans The Stoics 144 THE GRAECO-ORIENTAL WORLD For the intellectual world of his day he worked a task not unlike that of his pupil Alexander in the political world. More than any other of the ancients, too, he was many-sided and modern in his way of thinking. (For the 'period after Alexander.) During the Wars of the Suc- cession, two new philosophical systems were born, — Epicurean- ism and Stoicism. Each called itself highly “practical.” Neither asked, as older philosophies had done, “ What is true ? ” Stoicism asked (in a sense following Socrates), “What is right? ” and Epicureanism asked merely, “ What is expedient ? ” One sought virtue; the other, happiness. Neither sought knowl- edge. 1. Epicurus was an Athenian citizen. He taught that every man m'ust pursue happiness as an end, but that the highest pleasure was to be obtained by a wise choice of the refined pleasures of the mind and of friendship, — not by gratifying the lower appetites. He advised temperance and virtue as means to happiness; and he himself lived a frugal life, saying that with a crust of bread and a cup of cold water he could rival Zeus in happiness. Under cover of his theories, however, some of his followers taught and practiced gross living. The Epicureans denied the supernatural, and held death to be the end of all things. Epicureanism produced some lovable characters, but no exalted ones. 2. Zeno the Stoic also taught at Athens, in the painted porch (stoa) on the north side of the market place. His followers made virtue, not happiness, the end of life. If happiness were to come at all, it would come, they said, as a result, not as an end. They placed emphasis upon the dignity of human nature : the wise man should be superior to the accidents of fortune. The Stoics believed in the gods as manifestations of one Divine Providence that ordered all things well. The noblest characters of the Greek and Roman world from this time be- longed to this sect. Stoicism was inclined, however, to ignore the gentler and kindlier side of human life; and with bitter natures it merged into the philosophy of the Cynics, of whom Diogenes, with his tub and lantern, is the great example. Both SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS 145 Stoics and Epicureans held to a wide brotherhood of man, — one result of the union of the world in the new Graeco-Oriental culture. The closing age of Hellenistic history saw the forerunner of the modern university. The beginning was made at Athens. Plato, by his will, left his gardens and other property to his followers, organized in a club. Athenian law did not recognize the right of any group of people to hold property, unless it were a religious body. Therefore this club claimed to be organized for the worship of the Muses, who were the patrons of literature and learning ; and the name Museum was given to the institu- tion. This was the first endowed academy, and the first union of teachers and learners into a corporation.^ The idea has never since died out of the world. The model and name were used a little later by the Ptolemies at Alexan- dria in their “ Museum.” This was a richly endowed institution, with many students. It had a great library of over half a million volumes (manuscripts), with scribes to make careful copies and explain the meaning of doubtful passages by notes. Every important city in the Hellenic world wished its library to have an “Alexandrian edition” of each famous book, as the standard work upon which to base copies. (It is upon such copies that our modern printed editions of Greek books are mainly based.) One enterprise, of incalculable benefit to the later world, shows the zeal of the Ptolemies in collecting and translating texts. Alexandria had many Jews in its population, but they were coming to use the Greek language. Ptolemy Philadelphus had the Hebrew Scriptures translated into Greek for their benefit. This is the famous Septuagint translation, so called from the tradition that it was the work of seventy scholars. The Alexandrian Museum had also observatories and bo- tanical and zoological gardens, with collections of rare plants and animals from distant parts of the world; and the libra- rians and other scholars who were gathered about the institu- tion corresponded to the faculty of a modern university. 1 A corporation is a body of men recognized by the law as a “person” so far as property rights go. Libraries and museums s “ univer- sities” 146 THE GRAECO-ORIENTAL WORLD Science Science made greater strides than ever before in an equal length of time. Medicine, surgery, botany, and mechanics began to be real sciences. Archimedes of Syracuse discovered the principles of the lever and of specific gravity, as our high school students learn them in physics, and constructed burning mirrors and new hurling engines which made effective siege artillery. Euclid, a Greek at Alexandria, building upon the old Egyptian knowledge, produced the geometry which is still taught in our schools with little addition. Eratosthenes (born 276 B.C.), a librarian at Alexandria, wrote a systematic work on geography, invented delicate astronomical instruments, and devised the present way of measuring the circumference of the earth — with results nearly correct. His maps were the first to use meridians and parallels to show latitude and longi- tude. A little later, Aristarchus taught that the earth moved round the sun ; and Hipparchus calculated eclipses, catalogued the stars, wrote books on astronomy, and founded the science of trigonometry. Aristotle had already given all the proofs of the sphericity of the earth that are common in our textbooks now (except that of actual circumnavigation) and had asserted that men could probably reach Asia by sailing west from Europe. OUR HERITAGE FROM THE GREEKS 147 The scientific spirit gave rise, too, to actual voyages of explora- tion into many regions. Daring discoverers brought back from northern regions wild tales of icebergs gleaming in the cold aurora of the polar skies, and, from southern voyages, stories of hairy men (“gorillas”) in vine-tangled tropical forests. The Greek contributions to our civilization we cannot name our debt and count, as we did those from the preceding Oriental peoples. Hellas Egypt and Babylon gave us outer features, — garments, if we choose so to speak, for the body of our civilization. But the Greeks gave us its soul. Said a great historian, “ There is nothing that moves in the world to-day that is not Greek in origin.”^ Because the Greek contributions are of the spirit rather than of the body, they are hard to describe in a brief summary. One supreme thing, however, must be mentioned. The Greeks gave us the ideal of freedom, regulated by self-control, — freedom in thought, in religion, and in politics. References for Further Study. — Specially suggested : Davis’ Readings, I, Nos. 119-125 (19 pages, mostly from Polybius, Arrian, and Plutarch, the three Greek historians of that age). Additional: Plutarch’s Lives (“Aratus,” “Agis,” “Cieomenes,” “Philopoemen”) ; Mahaffy’s Alexander’s Empire. Fact Drills on Greek History 1. The class should form a Table of Dates gradually as the critical points are reached, and should then drill upon it until it says itself as the alphabet does. The following dates are enough for this drill in Greek history. The table should be filled out as is done for the first two dates. 776 B.c. First recorded Olympiad 371 b.c. 490 “ Marathon 338 “ 405 “ 220 “ 2. Explain concisely the following terms or names: Olympiads, Mycenaean Culture, Oljunpian Religion, Sappho. {Let the class extend the list several fold.) ^ See also theme sentences on page 5r PAET IV -SOME Map Study Geograph- ical in- fluence The center of our studies, the goal of our thoughts, the point to which all paths lead and the point from which all paths start again, is to he found in Rome and her abiding power. — Freeman. CHAPTER XVI LAND AND PEOPLE Liguria, Gallia Cisalpina, and Venetia are outside ancient “Italy” — which included only the Apennine peninsula, not the Po valley. Fix the position of Etruria, Latium, Campania, Samnium, and the Sabines. Observe that the Arnus (Arno), in Etruria, the Tiber, between Etruria and Latium, and the Liris, between Latium and Campania, are the most important rivers. Their basins were homes of early culture in Italy. About 200 B.c. the historical “ center of gravity” shifted west- ward once more to Italy, which till then had been merely an out- lying fragment of the civilized world. European culture began in the peninsula nearest to the older civilizations of the East. Just as naturally, the state which was to unite and rule all the coasts of the Mediterranean had its home in the central 'peninsula which divides that inland sea. Italy and Greece stood back to back. Italy faced, not the old East, but the new West. The mountains are nearer the eastern coast than the western : so, on the eastern side the short rocky spurs and swift torrents lose themselves quickly in the Adriatic. The western slope is nearly twice as broad : here are rivers and fertile plains, and, as a result, most of the few harbors and the important states. When Italy was ready for outside work, she gave herself first to conquering and civiliz- ing the lands of the western Mediterranean. 148 THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 149 In prehistoric times, the fame of Italy’s rich plains and sunny, vine-covered slopes had tempted swarm after swarm of barbarians across the Alps and the Adriatic; and already at the opening of history the land held a curious mixture of races, — savage Gauls in the Po valley ; mysterious Etruscans just north of the Tiber ; Greeks in the south ; and in the center the Italians. The eastern Italians were highlanders (Sabines, Samnites, Volscians) ; the western, lowland Italians were called Latins, and one of their cities was Rome. The Etruscans came in from western Asia long be- fore the Greeks began to settle in Italy. They were mighty builders, and have left many inscriptions in a language to which scholars can find no key. Their early tombs contain articles of Egyptian, Phoenician, and early Greek workmanship, brought there by traders who doubtless taught them many arts. In turn, the Etruscans were Rome’s first teachers. The Romans had no Horner.^ Their early history, as it was first put together by their historians about 200 B.C., was a mass of curious legends, without much value except for the place they hold in poem and story. But in recent years excava- tions have taught us many facts about early Rome. The Latins called their district Latium. This territory was about the size of an ordinary American county. It was broken here and there by scattered hills ; and on some one of these 1 Some modern scholars, however, believe that there must have been a copious ballad literature among the people, from which early historians could draw- Macaulay’s Lays of Ancient Rome was an attempt to reproduce buch ballads as Macaulay thought must once have existed. Etruscan Vase, — red figures on a black ground. There is a strong resemblance to ancient Cretan work; and for other reasons some scholars suspect a close connection between Cretans and Etrus- cans- Races Old legends about early Rome The early Latins 150 EARLY ROME Trade with Etruscans The square Palatine town : the nucleus of Rome each Latin tribe had its citadel. Once a year all Latins gathered at one of these hill iovts, Mount Alba, for a festival in honor of the chief Latin god, Jupiter; and the straggling village Alba Longa (the Long White town) was the recognized leader of the Latin tribes in war against the robber bands of Sabines from the mountains and against the powerful Etruscans across the Tiber. In many ways, however, the Etruscans had become necessary to Latin comfort. The Latins them- selves were peasant farmers, with- out smiths or artisans among them. If a farmer needed a plow- share or a knife, he drove an ox across the plain to the bank of the Tiber, or sometimes car- ried grain there, to trade it to some Etruscan for the tool. About twelve miles up the Tiber (a third of the way from the sea to the mountains) the river could be crossed by a ford at the foot of an island (map, p. 151). To this place Etruscan traders very early began to bring wares of metal and wood on regular “market days,” to tempt this profitable Latin trade. Now and then, too, a Cretan or Phoenician ship thought it worth while to row up the river ; and to the same point the Sa- bines from the foothills of the Apennines floated down their wine and grain on flat barges. Just south of the ford arose a remarkable group of seven low hills. The level space between these hills, opening on the river, became the regular market or Forum, for all this trade. At some early date the Etruscans improved the river-crossing by building a bridge there. The Latins feared lest the Etruscans use it for armed invasion, and so they guarded their end of it by building a square fort about the top of the Palatine, the steepest hill close by. Here a permanent Latin town at once grew up. This “square town” (the earliest “Rome”) dates back at least, to 1200 B.c. ; and in places the walls may still be traced. THE SEVEN HILLS 151 Early settlements were made also on at least two other of the seven hills. Roman tradition says that one of these towns was founded by an invading tribe of Sabines, and the other by a conquering Etruscan tribe. No doubt, there was a long period of war between the three hill-forts, but, finally, the three settle- merits were united into one state, on an equal footing. Thus hegan the process of association that was later to unite Italy. Rome was a city, not of one hill, like most Italian towns, but of seven hills. About 750 B.c. the old kings gave way to “tyrants” (the Other early settlements on the seven hills ; and fed- eration 152 EARLY ROME Etruscan “ tyrants ” and their works Rome the head of the Latin confederacy legendary Servius and the Tarquins) like those who seized power in Greek cities at about that time. Some of them seem to have been Etruscan adventurers, or conquerers. These ‘‘tyrants” drained the marshes and inclosed all seven hills within one wall — the so-called “wall of Servius” — taking in large open spaces for future city growth. The huge drain Etruscan Tombs near Orvieto, not far from Rome. A name on one tomb is made out to be Tarkhnos — which may be the Tarquinius (Tarquin) of Roman story. (Cloaca Maxima) and the remains of a massive wall pictured in these pages are supposed to belong to this period. At the Tiber mouth, these new kings founded Ostia, the first Roman colony, for a port ; and, on the north side of the river, Rome seized and fortified Mount Janieulum. Before the year 500, several conquered Latin towns had been razed, their inhabit- ants brought to Rome, and Rome had succeeded to the headship of the Latin confederacy . The life of the early Romans was plain and simple. Their houses were small huts, often only one room, with no chimney or window. The open door and an opening in the peaked roof HOME LIFE AND RELIGION 153 let out the smoke from the hearth fire, and let in light ; and a slight cavity directly below the roof-opening received the rain. Religion centered about the home and the daily tasks. For each house the door had its protecting god Janus, two-faced, looking in and out ; and each hearth fire had the goddess Vesta. When the city grew powerful, it had a cit]/ Janus and a city Vesta. In the ancient round temple of Vesta, the holy fire of So-called Temple of Vesta, probably having nothing in common with the real ancient temple of the goddess except its circular form. The origin of this comparatively late building is not known. It is now a church. the city was kept always bright by the priestesses (Vestal Virgins), who had to keep themselves pure in thought and act, that they might not pollute its purity. Next to the house gods came the gods of the farm : Saturn, the god of sowing ; Ceres, the goddess who made the grain grow ; Venus, another goddess of fruitfulness; and Terminus, a god who dwelt in each boundary pillar, to guard the bounds of the farm — and, later, the boundaries of the state. The early Romans had also an ancestor worship at each family tomb, and each Latin tribe had its ancestral deity. The war god, Mars, father of the fabled Romulus, was at first the special Home life at early Rome Religion 154 EARLY ROME The augurs Patricians and plebeians The patrician family god of Rome. But at the head of all the tribal gods of Latium stood Jupiter (Father Jove) ; and when Rome became the cen- tral Latin power, Jupiter became the center of the Roman re- ligion. The later Romans borrowed some Greek stories about the gods (p. 65) ; but they lacked poetic imagination to create a beautiful mythology, as the Greeks had done. The gods at Rome manifested their will not by oracles but by omens, or auspices. These auspices were sought especially in the conduct of birds, and in the color and size of the entrails of animals. The interpretation of such signs became a kind of science, in the possession of a “college” (collection) of augurs. Their “science” came from the Etruscans, and seems to have been related to old Babylonian customs. And the thrifty Roman drove hard bargains with his gods. The augurs, or soothsayers, called for fresh animals until the entrails gave the signs desired by the ruling magistrate, and then the gods were just as much bound as if they had shown favor at the first trial. The sky was watched until the de- sired birds did appear, and, in the later periods, tame birds were kept to give the required indications. Like the Greek cities, Italian cities contained many non- citizens. In Rome this class was especially large, partly be- cause the city had brought within its walls many clans from conquered cities, and partly because adventurers and refugees thronged to a prosperous commercial center. These non- citizens were plebeians. Some of them were rich ; but none of them had any part in the religion, or law, or politics of the city, nor could they intermarry with citizens. The citizens (the descendants of the three original tribes) were patricians, or “men with fathers.” The Roman father had complete authority over his sons and grandsons as long as he lived, even when they were grown men and perhaps in the ruling offices of the city. When his son took a wife, she, too, leaving her own family, came under his control. His own daughters passed by marriage from his hand under that of some other house-father. The father ruled his household. PATRICIANS AND PLEBEIANS 155 and the households of his male descendants, as priest, judge, and king. He could sell or slay his wife, unmarried daughter, grown-up son, or son’s wife; and all that was theirs was his. The patrician government had three parts. The king stood to the state as the father to the family. The Senate seems to have been originally a council of the chiefs of the 300 clans (or gentes) that made up the three tribes. The Assembly was much like the Homeric gathering. It met only at the call of the king. It did not debate. It listened to the king’s propos- als, and voted yes or no. Originally the army was made up of the patricians and their immediate depend- ents. But as the plebeians grew in numbers, the kings needed their service also. According to legend, “ Servius ” divided all landhold- ers, plebeian as well as patrician, into six classes, armed according to their wealth ; and each of these classes was divided into a fixed number of companies, or centuries. Now in barbarous society, the obligation to fight and the right to vote go together (cf. page 76), and gradually this army of centuries became, in peace, an Assembly of Centuries, So-called Wall of Servius. The old leg- ends said that Servius built a wall about the seven hills. Cf. p. 151. This wall was thirteen feet thick and fifty feet high. It consisted of a huge rampart of earth, faced on each side by a wall of immense stones fitted together without mortar. Part of this colossal structure has been un- covered recently on the Aventine. The patrician government Gains by the plebs under the tyrants The Assembly of Centuries 156 EARLY ROME The patrician minority manage to control the Assembly which took over the political power of the older patrician Assembly. The patricians, however, held most of the power in this new gathering. As population increased, the poorer classes grew in numbers faster than the rich ; but they did not gain duly in political weight, because the patricians kept the number of cen- turies from being changed. The patricians had a majority in the centuries of the richer classes. These centuries shrank up into skeleton companies, while the centuries of the lower classes came to contain far more than 100 men each ; but each century, full or skeleton, counted just one vote. This gave the patricians a vast advantage over the more numerous plebeians. None the less it was a gain that the position of a man was fixed not by his birth, but by his wealth — something that he might help change. The first great barrier against democracy was broken down. CHAPTER XVII THE EARLY REPUBLIC, TO 266 B.C. About 500 B.C. the patricians replaced their king by two elected consuls/ ruling for one year only. For that year, the consuls kept most of the old royal power — except that either might stop any act of the other by calling out Veto (“ I forbid”). The danger of a deadlock by a mutual veto, which might be fatal in a time of foreign peril, was avoided by a curious ar- rangement. At the request of the Senate either consul might appoint a dictator. This officer was the old king revived, save that his term of office could not exceed six months. The first century and a half of the Republic was a stern con- flict between patricians and plebeians. The last kings had leaned upon the plebeians and had protected them. That order had lost, not gained, by the revolution. The overthrow of the kings had left Rome a patrician oligarchy. The ple- beians could hold no office ; they controlled only a minority of centuries in the Assembly, and they had no way even to get a measure considered. At best, they could vote only upon laws proposed by patrician magistrates, and they could help elect only patrician officers, who had been nominated by other patricians. The patrician Senate, too, had a final veto upon any vote of the centuries ; and, in the last resort, the patrician consuls could always fall back upon the patrician augurs to prevent a possible plebeian victory — since the augurs could forbid a vote by declaring the auspices unfavorable. Law was unwritten, and, to the plebs, unknown, so that it was easy for a patrician to take shameful advantage in lawsuits. The ruling class used their political advantages to secure unjust economic advantages. When Rome conquered a hos- tile city, she took away a half or a third of its territory. This 1 The stories for this period — Battle of Lake Regillus, Brutus and His Sons, Horatius at the Bridge, and the Porsenna anecdotes — should be read in Davis’ Readings or in Macaulay’s Lays of Ancient Rome. 157 The consuls The dictator Class Struggles 158 EARLY ROME Unjust privilege War hard upon the poor Plebeian slavery Plebeians win a “ general strike ” new territory became a common pasture ground. It belonged to the state, and a small tax was paid for the right to graze cattle upon it. But, by selfish patrician law, only the' patricians had the right to use this grazing land ; and the patrician officers ceased even to collect the grazing tax. Thus the public land, won by plebeian blood, was enjoyed by the patricians as private patrician property. The farmer was called away frequently to battle. The plebeian had no servants to till his fields in his absence ; and his possessions were more exposed to hostile forays than were the strongly fortified holdings of his greater neighbor. He might return to find his crops ruined by delay, or his homestead in ashes. Thus, more and more, the plebeians were forced to borrow tax money, or to get advances of seed corn and cattle from patrician money lenders. On failure to pay, the debtor became the property of the creditor. He was compelled there- after to till his land (no longer his) for the creditor’s benefit ; or, if he refused to accept this result, he was cast into a dungeon, loaded with chains, and torn with stripes. There were a few rich plebeians (from gain by trade), but they too were bitterly dissatisfied because they could not hold office or intermarry with the old Roman families. Livy, an early Roman historian, gives a graphic account of the first great clash between the classes — in 497 b.c. : The plebs, driven to despair by the cruelty of patrician creditors, refused to serve in the war against the Volscians, until the consul won them over by freeing all debtors from prison. But when the army returned victorious, the other consul refused to recognize his col- league’s acts ; he arrested the debtors again, and enforced the law with merciless cruelty. On a renewal of the war, the betrayed plebs again declined to fight; but finally Manius Valerius (of the great Valerian house “that loved the people well”) Was made dictator, and him they trusted. Victory again followed; but Valerius was unable to get the consent of the Senate to his proposed changes in the law. So the plebeian army, still in battle array outside the gates, marched away to a hill across the Anio, some three miles from Rome, where, they declared, they were going to build a Rome of their own. This first “general strike” in history forced the patricians to some real conces- sions (p. 159), and the plebs returned from the “Sacred Mount.” CLASS STRIFE 159 The patricians were especially bitter toward any of their own order who were great-souled enough to dare take the side of the people. The first such hero was Spurius Cassius. He had served Rome gloriously in war and in statesmanship, and finally, as consul, he proposed a reform in the selfish patrician manage- ment of the public lands. The patricians raised the cry that he was trying to win popular favor so as to make himself tyrant. This was a favorite patrician trick — not unknown to much later ages. The plebeians allowed themselves to be fooled into deserting their noble champion, and he was put to death. Under like conditions, two other heroes, Spurius Maelius and Marcus Manlius, the man who had saved Rome from the Gauls (p. 161), fell before like charges. The secession of 497 b.c. gave the plebs the right to choose tribunes, who had power to stop any magistrate in any act by merely calling out veto. From a seat just outside the Senate door, the tribune’s shout could even stop proceedings in that body, and he could forbid a vote in the Assembly. Thus these representatives of the plebs could bring the whole patrician government to a standstill. This veto power could be exer- cised only within the city (not in war). A tribune’s door was left always unlocked, so that a plebeian in trouble might have instant admission, and the tribune’s person was made sacred, — a device which did not always protect against patrician daggers. The next great step dates from 460 b.c., when the plebs began to demand written laws. The patricians opposed the demand furiously, but after a ten-year contest a board of ten men (Decemvirs) was elected to put the laws into writing. Their laws were engraved on twelve stone tables, in short, crisp sentences, and set up where all might read them. These “Laws of the Twelve Tables” were the basis of all later Roman law. Like the first written laws at Athens, they were very se- vere, and were for the most part simply old customs reduced to writing. The new thing about them was that they were now known to all, and that they applied to plebeian and patrician alike. Then came a political gain. At some early date (legend Patrician heroes who stood for justice Tribunes The Twelve Tables 160 EARLY ROME Assembly by Tribes A double state The Licinian Laws, 367 B.C. Victory of the plebs says in the days of Servius) the city and its territory outside the walls had been divided into twenty-one “wards, or “ tribes,” for the military levy. In some way the meeting of the inhabit- ants of these local units grew into a regular “Assembly.” The plebeians (who had no complete organization in hlood tribes) had come to use this new Assembly of 'place “Tribes” to choose their tribunes and to adopt plans ; and here they passed decrees (plebiscita) binding upon all of their order. The tribunes called this Assembly together and presided over it, as the consuls did with the Assembly of Centuries. Now by threat of another “strike,” the plebs forced the patricians to agree that their plebiscites should be law, binding upon the whole state, just as the decrees of the Assembly of Centuries were. (The Senate, of course, kept a veto upon both assemblies.) Thus the first half century of conflict set up a plebeian govern- ment over against the patrician government, — Assembly of Tribes and its Tribunes over against Assembly of Centuries and its Consuls. There was no arbiter, and no check upon civil war except the Roman preference for constitutional methods. To fuse these two rival governments into one took nearly a century more. Even after the two orders had begun to inter- marry, the patricians long resisted all attempts to open to plebeians the sacred office of consul. In 377 b.c. the final campaign began. Under the wise leadership of the tribune Licinius Stolo, the plebeians united firmly in a ten-year struggle for a group of measures known as the Licinian Laws : (1) that at least one consul each year must be a plebeian; (2) that no citizen should hold more than 300 acres of the public lands ; and (3) that payment of debts might be postponed for three years — a measure made necessary by the universal distress that had followed a recent invasion by savage Gauls (p. 161). Year by year the plebeians reelected Licinius and passed the decrees anew in the Assembly of the Tribes. Each time the Senate vetoed the measures. Then the tribunes forbade the election of magistrates for the year, and so left the state without FUSION OF THE TWO ORDERS 161 regular government (though one year, during danger of foreign war, they patriotically permitted consuls to be chosen). At last the patricians tried to buy off the masses, by offering to yield on the matters of debts and lands if they would drop the demand regarding the consulship. But Licinius succeeded in holding his party together for the full program ; and, in 367, the Senate gave way and the plebeian decrees became law. Plebeian consuls now nominated plebeians for other offices ; and, since appointments to the Senate were made from those who had held high office, that body itself gradually became plebeian. The long struggle had seen no violent revolutions and no massacres, such as were common in class struggles in Greek cities. Except for the assassination of one tribune (Genueius) and a little political trickery now and then, the patricians after each defeat accepted the result in good faith, and the distinction between the classes soon died out. While Rome was most weakened by internal strife, she had been obliged also to fight continually for life against outside foes, — Etruscans, Sabines, Volscians ; and in 390 b.c. the city was actually occupied by a horde of invading Gauls except that a small garrison, under the soldier Marcus Manlius (p. 159), still held the Capitoline citadel. Later Romans told the story that one night the barbarians had almost surprised even this last defense, but some hungry geese, kept there for religious sacrifices, awakened Manlius by their noisy cackling just in time for him to hurl back the invaders from the walls. But the Gauls were ravaged by the deadly malaria of the Ro- man plain, and they had little skill or patience for a regular siege. Finally they withdrew on the payment of a huge ransom. While the gold was being weighed, the Romans objected to the scales ; whereupon, as the story runs, the Gallic chieftain, Brennus, threw his sword into the scale exclaiming “Vae Vic- tis” — “woe to the vanquished.” Such has been the principle of many a peace treaty since. Other states in Italy had suffered by the Gauls as much as Rome, or more. Rome at once stood forth as the champion of The Gallic invasion Rome sacked 162 EARLY ROME Rome expels the Gauls from Italy The war with Pyrrhus Italian civilization against the barbarians. After her own im- mediate peril was past, she followed up the invaders of Italy in vigorous campaigns until they withdrew to the Po valley. Then, as soon as the Licinian Laws had united her own people, she turned in earnest to unite Italy under her rule. Some powerful alliances were formed against her, especially one between the warlike Samnites of the southern Apennines and the turbulent Gauls of the Po valley ; but, using to the full the advantage of her central position, Rome always beat her foes one by one before they could unite their forces. A CorN OP Pyrrhus The final struggle was with Tarentum, a great Greek city of the south, which had called in aid from Pyrrhus, the chivalrous king of Epirus. Pyrrhus was one of the Greek military adventurers who arose after the death of Alexander. He came to Italy with a great armament and with vast designs. He hoped to unite the Greek cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily, and then to subdue Car- thage, the ancient enemy of Hellenes in the West. He knew little of Rome ; but at the call of Tarentum he found himself engaged as a Greek champion with this new power. He won some vic- tories, chiefly through his elephants, which the Romans had never before encountered ; but, anxious to carry out his wider plans, he offered a favorable peace. Under the leadership of an aged and blind senator, Apyius Claudius, defeated Rome an- swered haughtily that she would treat with no invader while he stood upon Italian soil. Pyrrhus chafed at the delay, and finally hurried off to Sicily, leaving his victory incomplete. The steady Roman advance called him back, and a great Roman victory at Beneventum (275 B.c.) ruined his dream of empire and gave Rome that sovereignty of Italy which she had claimed so resolutely. In BECOMES HEAD OF ITALY 163 266, she rounded off her work by conquering that part of Cisal- pine Gaul which lay south of the Po. The internal strife between classes in Rome had closed in 367. That strife had fused patricians and plebeians into one Roman people. Then that Roman people at once turned to unite Italy — and completed the task in just a century, 367-266 B.C. For Further Reading. — Davis’ Readings, II, Nos. 9-15 ; Ihne’s Early Rome, 135-151, 165-190 ; and Pelham’s Outlines, 68-97. Special Report by a student, from library material : the story of the Roman army sent “ under the yoke ” by the Samnite Pontius, and Rome’s perfidy. CHAPTER XVIII Classes of citizens Roman colonies Municipia The Tribes increased to thirty-five UNITED ITALY UNDER ROMAN RULE AFTER 266 B.C. I. "CITIZENS” AND "SUBJECTS” Italy now contained some 5,000,000 people. More than a fourth of these (some 1,400,000) were Roman citizens. The rest were subjects, outside the Roman state. The majority of Roman citizens no longer lived at Rome. Large parts of Latium and Etruria and Campania had become suburbs” of Rome; and other towns of Roman citizens were found in distant parts of Italy. There were now three classes of citizens: (I) the inhabitants of Rome itself; (2) members of Roman colonies; and (3) members of Roman municipia. From an early date (p. 152) Rome had planted colonies of her citizens about the central city as military posts. The colonists and their descendants kept all the rights of citizens. Each colony had control over its local affairs in an Assembly of its own ; but representative government had not been worked out, and in order to vote upon matters that concerned, the whole Roman state, the colonists had to come to Rome at the meeting of the Assembly there. This, of course, was usually impossible. There were many conquered towns, too — especially the Latin and Sabine towns — which Rome incorporated into the state. Such a town was called a municipium. These municipia differed little from Roman colonies except in origin. (They represent, therefore, a new contribution to politics. Athens had invented a cleruch system — the best advance up to her time — corresponding to Rome’s colonies ; but she did not learn to give citizenship to conquered states. By 266 b.c., Rome had a “citizen” body five times as large as Athens ever had.) To suit this expansion of the state, the twenty-one Roman “ tribes” (p. 160) were increased gradually to thirty-five, — four in the city, the rest in adjoining districts. At first these were 164 CITIZENS AND SUBJECTS 165 real divisions of territory ; but, once enrolled in a given tribe, a man remained a member, no matter where he lived, and his son after him. As new communities were given citizenship, they were enrolled in the old thirty-five tribes. Each tribe had one vote in the Assembly. Rome and her citizens owned directly one third the land of Italy. All Roman citizens, too, had certain valued rights. Under the head of private rights, they might (I) acquire prop- erty and (2) intermarry in any of Rome’s possessions. Their public rights included the right (I) to vote in the Assembly of the Tribes, (2) to hold any office, and (3) to appeal to the Assembly if condemned to death or to bodily punishment. In return for these privileges, the citizens furnished half the army of Italy and paid all the direct taxes. Outside the Roman state was subject-Italy, in three main classes, Latin colonies. Prefectures, and “Allies.” Highest in privilege among these stood the Latins. This name did not apply now to the old Latin towns (nearly all of which had become municipia), but to thirty-five colonies of a new kind, sent out far beyond Latium (after 338) from Rome’s landless citizens. These colonists were not granted full citizenship, as were the Roman colonies, but only the “Latin right.” That is, their citi- zens had the private rights of Romans ; and they might acquire full public rights also, and become Roman citizens in all respects, by removing to Rome and enrolling in one of the tribes. In local affairs, the Latin colonies had full self-government, like the Roman colonies and the municipia. Most numerous of all the inhabitants of Italy stood the mass of subject Greeks, Italians, and Etruscans, under the general name of Italian Allies. These cities differed greatly in con- dition among themselves. Each one was bound to Rome by its separate treaty, and these treaties varied widely. None of the “Allies” had either the private or public rights of Romans, and they were isolated jealously one from another; but in general they bore few burdens and enjoyed local self-government and Roman protection. Rights and duties of citizens The Latins The “ Allies 166 UNITED ITALY AFTER 266 B.C; The class of Prefectures consisted of three or four conquered towns, too deep offenders to warrant them in asking either the “Latin right” or “alliance.” They had no self-government. Alone of all cities in Italy, their local government was adminis- tered for them by 'prefects sent out from Rome. The Appian Way To-day, showing the original pavement. Thus Rome cautiously but steadily incorporated conquests into herself on a basis of equal rights, while over her remaining subjects she held dominion by her justice and, even more, by a wise toleration of local customs. Italy had become a confederacy under a queen city. ROMAN ROADS 167 At the same time Rome Sternly isolated the subject commu- nities. Her “ Allies” had no connection with one another except through the head city. Even the famous roads that marked her dominion “ all led to Rome.” Moreover, she took skillful advan- tage of the grades of inferiority she had created to foment jealous- ies. In politics as in war, her policy was “Divide and conquer.” The Roman roads were bonds of union. Rome began that Roman magnificent system in 312 b.c. by building the Via Appia to new possessions in Campania. This was the work of the censor Appius Claudius — the man who, old and blind, after- ward held Rome firm against Pyrrhus and haughtily claimed for Rome the dominion of all Italy (p. 162). Nothing was permitted to obstruct the course of these high- ways. Mountains were tunneled ; rivers were bridged ; marshes were spanned by viaducts of masonry. The construction was slow and costly. First the workmen removed all loose soil down to some firm strata, preferably the native rock. Then was laid a layer of large stones, then one of smaller, and at least one more of smaller ones still, — all bound together — some two feet in thickness — by an excellent cement. The top was then leveled carefully and paved smoothly with huge slabs of rock fitted to one another with the greatest nicety. Remains of these roads in good condition to-day still “mark the lands where Rome has ruled.” Under- the kings the army was similar to the old Dorian organ- The army ization, — a dense hoplite array, usually eight deep. In Greece the next step was to deepen and close the ranks still further into the massive phalanx. In Italy, instead, they were broken up into three successive lines, and each line was divided further into small companies, forming the flexible legion. The phalanx depended upon long spears. While it remained unbroken and could present its front, it was invulnerable ; but if disordered by uneven ground, or if taken in flank, it was doomed. The legion used the hurling javelin to disorder the enemy’s ranks before immediate contact (as moderns have used musketry), and the famous Roman short sword for close combat 168 UNITED ITALY AFTER 266 B.C. (as moderns have used the bayonet). Flexibility, individuality, and constancy took the place of the collective lance thrust of the unwieldy phalanx. The legion numbered about five thousand, and was made up of Roman citizens. Each legion was accompanied by about five thousand men from the Allies. These auxiliaries served on the wings of the legion as light-armed troops, and as cavalry. The camp The Roman camp was characteristic of a people whose colonies were garrisons. Where the army encamped — even if for only a single night — there grew up in an hour a fortified city, with earth walls and regular streets. This system allowed ROMAN GOVERNMENT 169 the Romans often “to conquer by sitting still,” declining or giving battle at their own option ; while, too, when they did fight, they did so with a fortified and guarded refuge in their rear. The importance of these camps, as the sites of cities over Europe, is shown by the frequency of the Roman word castra (camp) in English place-names, as in Chester, Rochester, Win- chester, Dorchester, Manchester. II. THE GOVERNMENT The officers of chief dignity in the Roman Republic, from least to greatest, were : Aediles (two), with oversight over police and public works ; Praetors (two), with the chief judicial power ; Consuls (two), leaders in war and in foreign policy; Censors (two), with power to appoint and to degrade Senators, and with supreme oversight over morals ; Dictator (one, and in critical times only). These five were called curule offices, because the holders kept the right to use the curule chair — the ivory “ throne ” of the old kings. There were also eight quaestors (in charge of the treasury and with some judicial power) and the ten tribunes. A new aristocracy had appeared. Each curule official, by law, handed down to his descendants the right to keep upon the walls of their living rooms the wax masks of ancestors, and to carry them in a public procession at the funeral of a member of the family. A chief part of such a funeral was an oration commemorating the virtues and deeds of the ancestors, whose images were present (Davis’ Readings, II, No. 19). Families with this privilege were called nobles (“the known”). Before the year 300 b.c., the nobles began to be jealous of the admission of “new men” to their ranks; and their united influence soon controlled nearly all curule elections in favor of some member of their own order. To make this easier, they secured a law fixing the order in which these offices could be attained : no one could be elected aedile until he had held the quaestorship, nor praetor till he had been aedile, nor consul till he had been praetor. Then the nobles had to watch only the election of quaestors. And since senators now had to be I The curule offices The new curule aristocracy 170 THE ROMAN REPUBLIC The Senate the guiding force at Rome Rome's best age A state of small free farmers appointed from ex-officials, “nobles” became equivalent to “ the senatorial order.” The Senate was really the guiding force in the government. It contained the wisdom and experience of Rome. The pressure of constant and dangerous wars, and the growing complexity of foreign relations even in peace, made it inevitable that this far-seeing, compact, experienced body should assume authority which in theory belonged to the clumsy, inexperienced Assembly. Rome became a complete aristocracy with democratic forms. ’’ No consul would think of bringing a law before the people without the previous approval of the Senate (so that indirectly that body, rather than the Assembly, had become the real legislature). No officer would draw money from the treasury without its consent. It declared and managed wars. It received ambassadors and made alliances. And certainly, for over a hundred years, by its sagacity and energy, this “ as- sembly of kings” (as the ambassador from Pyrrhus called it) justified its usurpation. III. ROMAN SOCIETY AT ITS BEST From 367 to about 200 b.c. is the period of greatest Roman vigor. The old class distinctions had died out, and the new aris- tocracy of office was still in its “age of service.” There was soon to come a new struggle between rich and poor — but this had not yet begun. The Roman citizens, in the main, patrician or plebeian by descent, were still yeomen farmers, who worked hard and lived plainly. The rapid gain in territory after 367 made it possible to turn the city poor into land-owners — in a colony if not near Rome. Each farmer tilled his few acres with his own hands and the help of his own sons. Every eighth day he came to the city with a load for “market,” — wheat, barley, garden vege- tables, fruit, horses, cattle, sheep, or hogs. There was little wealth and little extreme poverty. Manius Curio, the conqueror of the Samnites and of Pyrrhus, was a peasant. Plutarch tells us that, though he had “triumphed” thrice, he continued to live in a cottage on a little three-acre PLATE XXIIl Ruins at Sutri ; the ancient Sutrium. Some of these ruins are Etruscan (see Early Progress, p. 240) . The Etrus- can town became a Roman colony in 383 b-c. PLATE XXIV Pompeii, as the excavations show it. A large part of our knowledge con- cerning the life of Roman Italy is due to the rediscovery of this buried city. Vesuvius (shown in the background) was supposed to be an extinct volcano, but in 79 a.d. it belched forth in terrible eruption, bury- ing two cities and many villages in ashes and lava. Eighteen hundred years later, by the chance digging of a well, the site of Pompeii, the larger of the two cities, was re- discovered. In recent years it has been carefully excavated ; and to-day a visitor can walk through the streets of an ancient city, viewing perfectly preserved houses, shops, temples, baths, ornaments, and tools of the men of that day when the volcanic flood came upon them. In the Art Museums of our larger mod- ern cities there are interesting Pompeian remains, and sometimes “reconstructed” models of houses and temples. A SIMPLE SOCIETY TO 200 B.C. 171 plot which he tilled with his own hands. Here once some Samnite ambassadors found him dressing turnips in the chimney corner, when they came to offer him a large present of gold. Curio refused the gift : “ A man,” said he, “ who can be content with this supper hath no need of gold ; and I count it glory, not to possess wealth, but to rule those who do.” This sober history quite matches the less trustworthy legend of Cincinnatus of the fifth century, called from the plow on his three-acre farm to become dictator and save Rome from a hostile inva- sion, and returning to the plow again, all in sixteen days. In the city itself, as no doubt in all Italian towns, the crafts- men were organized in “unions” (gilds). These gilds were not for the purpose of raising wages, as with us, nor mainly for improving the character of the work, as in later centuries in Europe. They were associations for friendly intercourse and mutual helpfulness among the members, and they illustrate the extraordinary Roman capacity for teamwork, — in contrast to the individuality of Greek life. Commerce (trade with other lands) paid huge profits to those successful adventurers who did not too often lose vessels by ship- wreck or pirates. The few rich Romans long disdained the business for themselves ; but they early began to use their capital in it through their slaves or former slaves ; and toward 200 B.C. their profits were building up a new class of merchants and money-kings. The oldest Roman word for money {pecunia, from which comes our pecuniary) came from the word for herd (pecus). This points to a time when payments were made chiefly in cattle (p. 150). About 400 b.c., rude blocks of copper were stamped with the figure of an ox; and before 300 b.c., under the influence of Magna Graecia, Rome adopted true copper coins in the form of circular disks. Even earlier, the Romans had “estimated” in copper (aes), counting by the pound weight ; and now they made their copper coins each one twelfth of a pound (an old Babylonian unit of weight). Such a coin was an “uncia,” — one ounce (Troy weight). Silver was not used either for money or for household purposes until after the union of Italy. Craft gilds Commerce makes new money- kings Roman money Home-life Roman dress Education Science and learning 172 THE ROMAN REPUBLIC The house had added rooms on sides and rear, and openings for windows ; but it was still exeeedingly simple. A plain table, wooden couehes, and a few stools and simple cooking utensils comprised the furniture. Artificial warmth and light were secured by “braziers” and lamps, like those of the Greeks. The Roman took his chief meal at midday. In early times, the main food was a “porridge” of ground meal boiled in water. Pork, especially in the form of sausage, was the favorite meat. Bread, from ground wheat or barley, was baked in fiat, round cakes. Water or milk was the common drink, but wine mixed with water was coming into general use, after the fashion of the Greeks. The Romans who conquered Pyrrhus were a frugal, temperate people. Dress was as simple as the food. The Roman kept the primitive loin cloth of linen. Over this he drew a skort-sleeved woolen shirt {tunic) falling to the knees. This made the common dress of the house, workshop, and field. In public the Roman wore an outer garment — a white woolen blanket, thrown about him in graceful folds. This was the famous toga, bor- rowed from the old Etruscans. Women wore a long and a short tunic, and, for the street, a blanket-wrap. Foot-gear was like that of the Greeks. Stockings and hats were alike un- known. Members of the senatorial families wore broad gold rings. Until seven, the children were in the mother’s care. After that age, boys went to a private school, taught usually by some Greek slave, where they learned to read, to write, and, in a lim- ited degree, to compute with Roman numerals. The only text- book was the Twelve Tables, which were learned by heart. Physical training was found in athletic games in the Campus Martius (p. 151), where the young Romans contended in running, wrestling, and in the use of the spear, sword, and javelin. Literature, under Greek influence, was just beginning at the close of the period. Roads, bridges, and aqueducts were built in the last half of the period on a magnificent scale, and the use of the round arch was so developed that we often speak of it as “ the Roman arch.” LIFE AND WORK 173 Undue praise has been given sometimes to the semi-barbaric excellence of early Rome. The Roman was haughty, obedient to law, self-controlled ; but too often he was also coarse, cruel, and rapacious. The finest thing in his character was the willingness to sink personal or party advantage for the public weal. Next to this, and allied to it, is the capacity for team- work. Roman history, up to this point, is not the history of a few brilliant leaders : it is the story of a people. We have seen a village of rude shepherds and peasants grow into a city-state and then (by 264 b.c.) into the queen city of united Italy. During the next hundred years Italy was to organize the fringes of the three continents bordering the Mediterranean into one Graeco-Roman society. But it was not Rome’s genius in war, great as that was, which made the world Roman. It was her political wisdom and her organizing power. As Greece stands for art and intellectual culture, so Rome stands for government and law. A little later her poet Vergil wrote: “Others, I grant, indeed, shall with more delicacy mold the breath- ing brass; from marble draw the features to the life; plead causes better; describe with a rod the courses of the heavens, and explain the rising stars. To rule the nations with imperial sway be thy care, O Roman. These shall be thy arts : to impose terms of peace, to spare the humbled, and to crush the proud. ” A summary: Rome’s contribu- tions CHAPTER XIX The five world- powers in 264 B.C. Carthage THE WINNING OF THE WORLD, 264-146 B.C. I. EXPANSION IN THE WEST In 264 B.C. Italy was one of five great Mediterranean states. Alexander the Great had been dead nearly sixty years, and the dominion of the eastern Mediterranean world was divided between the three great Greek kingdoms, Syria, Egypt, and Macedonia, with their numerous satellites. In the western Mediterranean, Carthage had held sway. Between East and West now stood forth Roman Italy, ready first to seize the West. Carthage was an ancient Phoenician colony on the finest harbor in North Africa. Her government, in form, was a republic, somewhat like Rome, but in reality it was a narrow oligarchy controlled by a few wealthy families. She was now at the height of her power, and the richest city in the world. She had built up a vast empire, including North Africa, Sardinia, Corsica, half of Sicily, and the coasts of Spain. In Africa alone she ruled three hundred cities, and her territory merged into the desert where tributary nomads roamed. The western Medi- terranean she regarded as a Punic ^ lake : foreign sailors caught trespassing there were cast into the sea. But the Greeks of South Italy had traded in those waters for five hundred years ; and Rome, now mistress and protector of those Greek cities, was bound to defend their trading rights against the Carthaginian closed door. The strength of Carthage lay in her wealth and her navy, but her army was a motley mass of mercenaries. Her Roman foes represented her as wanting in honesty, and their epithet, “ Punic faith” is still a synonym for treachery. But Rome wrote the 1 “Punic” is another form for “Phoenician,” and is used as a shorter ad- jective for “Carthaginian.” 174 WARS WITH CARTHAGE 175 history; and, even so, the charge of faithlessness holds more clearly against Rome. The occasion for the First Punic War was found in Sicily. The struggle lasted 23 years, and left Rome mistress of that island. Immediately after the peace, too, by a base mingling of violence and treachery, Rome seized from Carthage the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. (Then in 222 she completed her con- quest of Cisalpine Gaul up to the crescent wall of the Alps.) The Second Punic War is known as “the War with Hanni- bal.” The most brilliant Carthaginian general in the first war had been Hamilcar, surnamed Barca (“the lightning”). From Rome’s high-handed treachery in Sardinia, Hamilcar imbibed a deathless hatred for that state, and began to prepare for another conflict. To offset the loss of the great Mediterranean islands, he sought to extend Carthaginian dominion over Spain. The mines of that country, he saw, would furnish the needful wealth ; and its hardy tribes, when disciplined, would make an infantry which might meet even the legions of Rome. When Hamilcar was about to cross to Spain, in 236, he swore his son Hannibal at the altar to eternal hostility to Rome. Hannibal was then a boy of nine years. He followed Hamilcar to the wars, and, as a youth, became a dashing cavalry officer and the idol of the soldiery. He used his camp leisure to store his mind with the culture of Greece. At twenty-six he suc- ceeded to the command in Spain, where he had already won the devotion and love of his fickle, mercenary troops. Hamilcar had made the rich south of Spain a Carthaginian province. Hannibal rapidly carried the frontier to the Ebro, collected a magnificent army of over a hundred thousand men, and besieged Saguntum, an ancient Greek colony, which had already sought Roman alliance. Now, in alarm and anger, Rome declared war (218 b.c.). Rome had intended to take the offensive. But, with auda- cious rapidity, Hannibal in five months had crossed the Pyrenees and the Rhone, fighting his way through the Gallic tribes ; forced the unknown passes of the Alps, under conditions that made it a feat paralleled only by Alexander’s passage of the Hindukush ; First Punic War, 264-241 B.C. The Second Punic War, 218-202 B.C. (The “War with Hannibal ” Hannibal in Spain Hannibal invades Italy 176 ROME WINS THE WEST Victories : Ticinus, Trebia, Trasimene Fabius dictator Cannae Fidelity of Rome’s Allies Except Capua and Syracuse and, leaving the bones of three fourths of his army between the Ebro and Po, startled Italy by appearing in Cisalpine Gaul, with 26,000 “ heroic shadows.” With these “emaciated scarecrows” Hannibal swiftly de- stroyed two hastily gathered Roman armies — at the Ticinus and at the Trebia. Then the recently pacified Gallic tribes rallied turbulently to swell his ranks. The next spring he crossed the Apennines, ambushed a Roman army of 40,000 men, blinded with morning fog, near Lake Trasimene, and annihilated it, and carried fire and sword through Italy. Quintus Fabius Maximus was now named dictator, to save Rome. That wary old general adopted ).he wise policy of delay (“Fabian policy”) to wear out Hannibal. He would not give battle ; but he followed close at the Carthaginian’s heels, from place to place. Even Hannibal could not catch Fabius unawares ; and he did not dare to attack the intrenched Roman camps. But he had to win victories to draw the Italian “Allies” from Rome, or he would have to flee from Italy. So far, not a city in Italy had opened its gates. But in Rome many people murmured impatiently, nick- naming Fabius Cunctator (the Laggard) ; and the following summer the new consuls were given 90,000 men — by far the largest army Rome had ever put in the field, and several times Hannibal’s army — with orders to crush the invader. The result was the battle of Cannae — “a carnival of cold steel, a butchery, not a battle.” Hannibal lost 6000 men. Rome lost 60,000 dead and 20,000 prisoners. A consul, a fourth of the senators, nearly all the officers, and over a fifth of the fighting population of the city perished. Hannibal sent home a bushel of gold rings from the hands of fallen Roman nobles. Even this victory yielded little fruit. The mountain tribes of the south, eager for plunder, did join Hannibal, as did one Italian city, Capua. Syracuse, too, renounced its Roman alliance, and joined its ancient enemy Carthage. But the other cities — colonies, Latins, or Allies — closed their gates against him as resolutely as Rome itself, — and so gave mar- WARS WITH CARTHAGE 177 velous testimony to the excellence of Roman rule and to the national spirit it had fostered. A third of the adult males of Italy had fallen in battle within three years, or were in camp, so that all industry was demoral- ized. But Rome’s greatness showed grandly in that hour of gloom. With splendid tenacity she refused even to receive Coin of Hiero II, tyrant of Syracuse, long an ally of Rome against Carthage. Hannibal’s envoys or to consider his moderate proposals for peace. Nor would she ransom prisoners. Much as she needed her soldiers back, she preferred to teach her citizens that they ought at such a time to die for the Republic rather than sur- render. Taxes were doubled, and the rich gave cheerfully, even beyond these crushing demands. The days of mourning for the dead were shortened. Not a man was called back from Sicily or Spain. Instead Rome sent out new armies to those places ; and, by enrolling slaves, old men, boys, and the criminals from the prisons (arming them with the sacred trophies in the temples), she managed to put two hundred and fifty thousand troops into the field. Hannibal could maintain himself indefinitely in Italy. But he made no more headway. He had not force enough to capture any important walled town. So his only possible chances for success lay in arousing a general Mediterranean war against Rome, or in receiving strong reinforcements from Carthage or Spain. Philip V of Macedonia did ally himself with Hannibal, but he acted timidly and too late. Carthage showed a strange Roman grandeur in defeat Lack of concert among Rome’s foes 178 ROME WINS THE WEST Syracuse punished Changed character of the war “ Hannibal at the Gates ” apathy when victory was within her grasp, and even allowed Rome to keep command of the sea, without a struggle. Meantime Rome besieged Syracuse by land and sea, and after three years, took it by storm (212 b.c.), and, for a time, wiped it from the map. Works of art, accumulated through many centuries, were destroyed or carried away as plunder; and the city never recovered its old place in culture, power, or commerce. Indeed Rome’s barbarous cruelty to Syracuse was due, in no small measure, to her greedy wish to seize for herself the rich trade of the fated city. (The siege is memorable also for the scientific inventions of Archimedes, used in the defense. The philosopher himself was killed during the sack of the city. See Davis’ Readings, II, No. 27.) In Italy itself, Rome fell back upon iron constancy and stead- fast caution. The war became a long series of wasting sieges and marchings and counter marchings. Hannibal’s genius shone as unsurpassed as ever, earning him from modern military critics the title, “Father of Strategy”; but he found no more chance for dazzling victories. Meantime his African and Spanish veterans died off, and slowly the Romans learned from him how to wage war. For thirteen years after Cannae Hannibal maintained himself in Italy without reinforcement in men or money, — always winning a battle when he could engage the enemy in the field, — and directing operations as best he might in Spain, Sicily, Mace- donia, and Africa. But it was a war waged by one supreme genius against the most powerful and resolute nation in the world — and the genius was defeated after a sixteen years’ war. One more dramatic scene marked the struggle in Italy. The Romans had besieged Capua. In a daring attempt to relieve his ally, Hannibal marched to the very walls of Rome, ravaging the fields about the city. The Romans, however, were not to be enticed into a rash engagement, nor could the army around Capua be drawn from its prey. The only result of Hannibal’s desperate stroke was the fruitless fright he gave Rome, — such that for generations Roman mothers stilled their children by the terror-bearing phrase, “ Hannibal at the Gates ! ” Roman WARS WITH CARTHAGE 179 stories relate, however, that citizens were found, even in that hour of fear, to show a defiant confidence by buying eagerly at a public sale the land where the invader lay encamped. Hannibal finally drew off, and Capua fell, — to meet a fate more harsh even than that of Syracuse. Its leading men were massa- cred; most of the rest of the population were sold as slaves; and colonies of Roman veterans were planted on its lands. Hannibal’s one remaining chance lay in reinforcements by land from his brother Hasdrubal, whom he had left in charge in Spain. But for year after year, in spite of some great vic- tories, Hasdrubal had been checked by the overwhelming forces Rome sent against him. Finally, in 208, he did elude the Roman Scipio. Rome’s peril was never greater than when this second son of Barca crossed the Alps with 56,000 veteran soldiers. If the two Carthaginian armies joined, Hannibal could march at will through Italy, — and leading Latin colonies had already given Rome notice that they could not much longer endure the ravages of the war. Rome put forth its supreme effort, and threw 150,000 men between the two Carthaginian armies. By chance, a messenger from Hasdrubal to his brother was captured, and his plans discovered, while Hannibal was left ignorant of his approach. The opportunity was used to the full. The consul, Claudius Nero, with audacity worthy of Hannibal himself, left a small part of his force to deceive that leader, and hurrying northward with the speed of life and death, joined the other consul and fell upon Hasdrubal with crushing numbers at the Metaurus. The ghastly head of his long-expected brother, flung into his camp with true Roman brutality, was the first notice to Han- nibal of the ruin of his cause. (On all occasions, Hannibal had given chivalrous treatment to captives, and honorable burial to dead Roman generals.) Hannibal still remained invincible in the mountains of south- ern Italy. But Rome now carried the war into Africa. After Hasdrubal left Spain, Publius Cornelius Scipio, the Roman general there, rapidly subdued the whole peninsula, and, in 204, he persuaded the Senate to send him with a great army Capua punished Rome’s darkest hour Victory of the Metaurus Scipio carries the war into Africa 180 ROME WINS THE EAST Hannibal’s one and fatal defeat at Zama Carthage “ blotted out,” 146 B.C. against Carthage itself. Two years later, to meet this peril, Carthage recalled Hannibal. That great leader obeyed sadly, “ leaving the country of his enemy,” says Livy, “ with more regret than many an exile has left his own.” The same year (202 b.c.) the struggle closed with Hannibal’s first and only defeat, at the battle of Zama (Davis’ Readings, II, No. 28). Carthage lay at the mercy of the victor, and sued for peace. She gave up Spain and the islands of the western Mediterranean; surrendered her war elephants and all her ships of war save ten ; paid a huge war indemnity, which was intended to keep her poor for many years ; and became a de- pendent ally of Rome, promising to wage no war without Roman consent. Scipio received the proud surname Ajri- canus. Forty years later there was a Third Punic War, marked by black Roman perfidy. Carthage was now harmless. But Roman fear was cruel and her commercial envy was rapacious. For years the narrow-minded but zealous Cato, a leader in the Roman Senate, closed every speech, no matter what the theme, with the phrase “ Delenda est Carthago” (Carthage must be blotted out). More quietly but even more effectively the Roman merchant class strove to the same end, to prevent Carthage from reviving its ancient trade. Carthage was cautious, even abject; but at last by a long series of persecutions and treacheries Rome forced war upon her. After a four years’ heroic resistance, the Roman legions forced their way over the walls. For many days the city was given up to pillage. Then, by express orders from Rome, it was burned to the ground, and its site was plowed up, sown to salt, and cursed (146 b.c.). To carry out this crime fell to the lot of one of the purest and noblest characters Rome ever produced, — Publius Scipio Aemilianus, the nephew and adopted grandson of Seipio Africanus, known himself as Africanus the Younger. As he watched the smoldering ruins (they burned for seventeen days) with his friend Polybius the historian, Scipio spoke his fear that some day Rome might suffer a like fate, and he was heard to repeat Homer’s lines : COMMERCIAL GREED 181 “Yet come it will, the day decreed by fate, The day when thou. Imperial Troy, must bend, And see thy warriors fall, thy glories end.” II. THE WINNING OF THE EAST ^ Immediately after the Second Punic War, Rome began to extend her authority in the Greek East and in eleven years (200-190 B.c.) she set up a virtual protectorate ^ over all the realms of Alexander's successors. For this there was much excuse in the weakness and disorder of the degenerate Eastern states (p. 142). That vast region had become politically “an intoler- able hubbub,” from which men’s eyes turned with hope “to the stable and well-ordered Republic of the West.” But Rome did not stop with protectorates. Gradually she was led to seize territory in the civilized East, as before in the barbarous West. Appetite for power grew with its exercise ; a class of ambitious nobles craved new wars of conquest for the sake of glory and power; and the growing class of merchants and money lenders (who now indirectly dominated the govern- ment) hungered raveningly for conquests in order to secure more special privileges in the form of trade monopolies and the management of finances in new provinces. Two or three features only of this long conquest can be noted here. 1. The flexible legion proved incomparably superior to the unwieldy phalanx. 2. Rome so filled her coffers from the plunder of the East that thereafter she never taxed her citizens. Besides this public plunder, Roman generals regularly paid their soldiers by the sack of helpless rich cities — one Roman hero turning over to a ruffian soldiery seventy civilized cities in one campaign. 3. In 146 B.c. — the same year that saw the destruction of Carthage — Rome basely goaded Greece into rebellion, and then destroyed Corinth — another of the commercial centers 1 That is, Rome controlled their foreign relations, and, on occasion, would step in to maintain internal order — much as Britain did for some years in Egypt. Rome changes protec- torates into provinces 182 ROME THE WORLD MISTRESS The world Graeco- Roman Latin West and Greek East whose prosperity called out the envy of Roman merchants. The city was burned; its site plowed and cursed; and its people murdered or sold into slavery. The art-treasures became the plunder of the Roman state, but much was lost. Polybius saw soldiers playing at dice, amid the smoking ruins, on the paintings of the greatest masters. In 264 B.c. Rome had been one of five Great Powers (p. 174). In 146, she was the sole Great Power. Carthage and Mace- donia were provinces. Egypt and Syria had become protec- torates and were soon to be provinces. All the smaller states had been brought within the Roman “sphere of influence.” Rome held the heritage of Alexander as well as that of Carthage. The civilized world had become a Graeco-Roman world, under Roman sway. But Rome’s relations with the two sections of her empire were widely different. To the people of the West, despite terrible cruelties in war, she brought better order and higher civilization than they had known. The Western world became Latin. But to the last, the East remained Greek, not Latin, in language, customs, and thought. The Adriatic continued to divide the Latin and Greek civilizations when the two shared the world under the sway of Rome. Exercise. — Make a table of dates in parallel columns to shovr relations in time between Greek and Roman history — to 146 b.c. B.c. Greece b.c. Rome 510. Expulsion of Athenian tyrants. 500(?). Expulsion of the kings. 492. Attack by Persia. 494. First secession by the plebs ; tribunes. etc. etc. Special Report, from library material : the story of Hannibal after Zama. CHAPTER XX STRIFE BETWEEN RICH AND POOR, 146-49 B.C. Rome had ‘won the world but lost her own soul.’ During her wars of conquest, she sank steadily to lower levels in morals and in industry at home. The Second Punic War alone cost Italy a million lives. These included the flower of the Roman citizens, — tens of thousands of high-souled youth, who, in peace, would have served the state through a long lifetime. The Italian race was made permanently poorer by that terrible hemorrhage. Conquest and war had hastened, too, the growth of a capitalist class. By 1 46, Rome had become the money center of the world. The capitalists became known as equites, or “knights.” They formed a new and larger aristocracy of wealth, just below the old senatorial aristocracy of office and birth. Very commonly they were organized in partnerships and stock companies, and the Via Sacra, along which such companies had many offices, was the first Wall Street. Some of these combinations monopolized the trade in important commodities — so as unduly to raise the price to the public. Olive oil was a necessary part of Italian food, holding much more than the place that butter does with us, and it had many other uses aside from food ; so about 200 B.C., we find an “ oil trust” at Rome. A few years later the people were so distressed by a speculators’ “corner” in grain that the government felt it necessary to prosecute certain “malefactors of great wealth” under an ancient law of the Twelve Tables against engrossing food. Ordinarily, however, the capitalists went their extortionate ways without rebuke. True, the Senatorial families were for- bidden by law to engage in foreign trade or in government contracts; but this attempt to keep the money power from influencing the government failed. The capitalists could not 183 Decline in morals due to war Conquest creates capitalist class Trade - monopolies And their alliance with the Senate 184 DECAY OP THE ROMAN REPUBLIC Wealth’s special privileges Wealth’s control of government place members of their own class in the Senate, so as directly to secure such policies as they desired ; but none the less, indi- rectly, they did control the government. This condition began with the patriotic action of the moneyed men during the Second Punic War. Year by year, during that desperate struggle, the Senate had to have immense sums of money such as the Roman treasury had never before known. The only way then to get such sums quickly was from the rising companies of capitalists. These companies risked their wealth generously to build the fleets and equip the armies with which Hannibal was held in check. Then, in return, when the danger was -past, they demanded and obtained special favors. In particular, they were allowed to take for their own the public lands, treating the land provision of the Licinian Laws as a dead letter. Sometimes they repaid themselves out of graft- ing contracts for supplies, or by overinsuring ships laden with army supplies, and then scuttling them, to collect the money from the government. Moreover the capitalists loaned money, perhaps without security, to ambitious young nobles to help them get elected to office ; and in return, when one of these nobles became a provincial governor, he could easily induce a rich city to give fat contracts to his favorite Roman syndicate ; or he could enable the syndicate to squeeze from a debtor city the last penny of extortionate interest which its government had foolishly or wrongfully promised. The syndicates were of no political party. Like “big busi- ness” in our own time, they sought to control or own every leader and party which might be able sometime to serve them. Moreover, small shares of the stock companies were widely distributed, so that the whole middle class of citizens was interested in every prospect of enlarged dividends. Such citizens could be counted upon to support any project of the moneyed interests with their votes in the Assembly and with their shoutings in the street mobs. Ever since the war with Pyrrhus, Greek culture from Magna Graecia had been more and more influencing Rome. With a PLATE XXV The Discus Thrower (Discobolus). — This glorious marble (unearthed in 1871 amid some ruins on the Esquiline Hill, and now at the Lancelotti Palace in Rome) is a copy of a bronze by Myron (p. 121), probably celebrating some victor in the Olympic games. Quite probably this marble was plundered from some Greek city. PLATE XXVI Two Views op the Remains of the Library of a Roman Villa near Tivoli. Walls so well preserved are uncommon; but the foundations of such structures are scattered over Western and Southern Europe, and even to-day new finds of this sort are revealed by chance excavations. RICH AND POOR 185 few of the better minds, like the Scipios, this softened and refined character into a lovable type; but as a rule it merely ve- neered the native Roman coarseness and brutality. And after the conquest of the Greek East, there was a new inflow of Greek culture into Italy. Greek became the fashion- able language ; Greek marbles and pictures, plundered from Greek cities, adorned Roman palaces ; Greek slaves wrote plays to amuse Roman nobles. With the rich and the nobles, the old Roman simplicity gave way to sumptuous luxury. There was a growing display in dress, in rich draperies and couches and other house furnishings, in the celebration of marriages, at funerals, and at the table. (The Romans now adopted the Greek custom of reclining at meals.) As the Roman Juvenal wrote later : “ Luxury has fallen upon us — more terrible than the sword ; the conquered East has avenged herself by the gift of her vices.” The houses of wealthy men had come to imitate the Greek type. Each fashionable house had its bathrooms, one or more, and its library. The pavement of the courts, and many floors, were ornamented with artistic mosaic. Walls were hung with costly, brilliantly colored tapestries ; and ceilings were richly gilded. Sideboards were beautiful with vases and gold and silver plate ; and in various recesses stood glorious statues, the booty from some Hellenic city. Besides his town house, each rich Roman had one or more country houses {villas), with all the comforts of the city, — baths, libraries, museums, mosaic pavements, richly gilded ceilings, walls hung with brilliant tapestries, — while about the house spread parklike grounds with ornamental shrub- bery and playing fountains and with beautiful marble forms gleaming through the foliage, and perhaps with fish ponds and vineyards. Commonly a villa was the center of a large farm; and its magnificent luxury found a sinister contrast in the squalid huts, leaning against the walls of the villa grounds, in which slept the wretched slaves that tilled the soil and heaped up wealth for the noble master. Near by, in somewhat better quarters, lived Influence of Greek culture Simplicity gives way to sumptuosity Luxury of the rich The villa 186 DECLINE OP THE ROMAN REPUBLIC Gladiatorial games The public baths The hungry populace his skilled artisans — carpenters, smiths, and bakers. To care for the complex needs of his sumptuous life, too, every man of wealth kept troops of household slaves — who slept on the floors of the large halls or in the open courts. Alongside this private luxury, there grew the practice among candidates for office of entertaining the populace with shows, especially with gladiatorial games. These came, not from the Greek East, but from neighbors in Italy. They were an old Etruscan custom, and were introduced into Rome about the beginning of the Punic Wars. A gladiatorial contest was a combat in which two men fought each other to the death for the amusement of the spectators. The practice was connected with ancient human sacrifices for the dead, and at Rome the first contests of this kind took place only at the funerals of nobles, but by degrees they became the most common of the public amusements. Exaggerated copies of the Greek public baths appeared in Rome. These became great public clubhouses, where the more voluptuous and idle citizens spent many hours a day. Besides the various rooms for baths, — hot, tepid, or cold, — a bathing house had its swimming pools, libraries, and museums, and extensive gardens with delightful shady walks. Before long, some of these were opened free to the poorer classes. For Rome now had a populace, — masses of hungry, unem- ployed men. This new class, like the new rich, was also a prod- uct of the Second Punic War. That war began the ruin of the small farmer in Italy. Over much of the peninsula the home- steads were hopelessly devastated ; and years of continuous camp life, with plunder for pay, corrupted the simple habits of the yeoman class, so that they drifted to the city, to become a rabble. When the great wars were over, the rift between the new rich and the new poor went on widening. Rome confiscated vast tracts of land in her conquered provinces, and afterward sold them cheap to her own nobles ; and often the ruined natives were glad to sell their remaining estates for a song. By such means, Roman nobles became the owners of huge landed RICH AND POOR 187 properties in Sicily, Spain, Africa, and soon in the East, — all worked by cheap slave labor, which was supplied in abundance by the continuous wars of conquest. This new landlord class then supplied the Italian cities with grain from Sicily and North Africa cheaper than the Italian farmer could raise it on his more sterile soil. This did not hurt the large landlord in Italy : he turned to Ruin of cattle grazing or sheep raising, with slave labor. But the small farmer had no such refuge. Ruined and dismayed, many of this class were ready to sell their farms ; and they found eager purchasers in the new capitalists, who especially desired pleasure resorts in Italy. Indeed, when the yeoman (in the more se- cluded districts) still clung stubbornly to his ancestral fields, a grasping landlord neighbor sometimes had recourse to force and fraud. Horace, court poet though he was (pp. 225-6), describes in pathetic words the helplessness of the poor farmer, whose cattle died mysteriously, or whose grov/ing crops were trampled into the ground overnight, until he would sell at the rich man’s price. Redress at law was usually too costly and too uncertain for a poor man in conflict with a rich one. In parts of Italy, especially in the north, many yeomen Emigration did hold their places. But over great districts, only large ranches could be seen, with half-savage slave herdsmen and their flocks, where formerly there had nestled numerous cottages on small, well-tilled farms, each supporting its independent family. As a class, the small farmers, once the backbone of Latin society, had disappeared. What became of this dispossessed yeomanry, from whom formerly had come conquerors, statesmen, and dictators ? Many had foresight and energy enough to make their way at once to Gaul or Spain, while their small capital lasted. To Italy their strength was lost. But in the semi-barbarous west- ern provinces, for a century, a steady stream of sturdy peasant emigrants spread the old wholesome Roman civilization and confirmed the Roman rule, while at the same time they built up homes and fortunes for themselves. 188 DECAY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE A. city mob Political decay A Senatorial oligarchy A whole class of people, however, could not leave their native land. The great bulk of the ex-farmers merely drifted to the cities of Italy, and especially to the capital. If Italy had been a manufacturing country, they might finally have found a new kind of work in these city homes. But the Roman conquests in the East prevented this. In the Eastern provinces, manu- facturing of all sorts was much more developed than in Italy; and now Roman merchants found it cheaper to import Oriental goods than to build up a system of factories at home. Rome ceased to develop home resources, and fed upon the provinces ; and such manufactures as remained were already in the hands of skilled Oriental slaves or freedmen. Thus the ex-farmers found no more employment in the city than in the country. They soon spent the small sums they had received for their lands, and then they and their sons sank into a degraded city rabble. Hannibal had struck Rome a deadlier blow than he ever knew. The rugged citizen farmers who had ■conquered Pyrrhus were replaced, on one side, by an incapable, effeminate aristocracy, and on the other, by a mongrel mob reinforced by freed slaves. The lines of an English poet, almost two thousand years later, regarding similar phenomena in his own country, apply to this Italy: “111 fares the land, to hastening ills a prey. Where wealth accumulates, and men decay ! ” With this moral decline came political decay. In theory the constitution had not changed ; but really it had become a play- thing for factions of ambitious and degenerate politicians. Old ideas of loyalty, obedience, regard for law, self-restraint, van- ished. Leading statesmen disregarded all checks of the con- stitution, to carry a point ; and young nobles flattered, caressed, and bribed the populace for their votes. The Senatorial order shrank from a broad and wise aristocracy into a narrow, selfish, incompetent oligarchy, careful only of its own class interests. The shows expected from aediles, to entertain the populace, had become so costly that only the wealthiest men, or the most reckless gamesters, could start in politics. PLATE XXVII Above. — Ruins op the Temple of Apollo at Pompeii, with a view of Ve- suvius the destroyer in the background. (Cf. Plate XXIV, facing p. 171.) Below. — A Coukt in the House op the Vettii at Pompeii. (The modern shrubbery reproduces something of what the open court must have possessed.) PLATE XXVIII A Court of a Roman House. — From a painting by Boulanger. CLASS DIVISIONS 189 So, too, there was a sharper line than formerly, through all Italy, between citizens and subjects. Rome ceased to take in new bodies of citizens : she no longer sent out Latin colonies — since the ruling class in Rome wished all vacant lands for themselves; and her “Allies,” whose loyal friendship had saved her from Hannibal, she began to treat as subjects. She gave them a smaller share of the plunder of war than for- merly, and doubled their share of men for the army, while Roman officials sometimes displayed toward them a new inso- lence and a brutal cruelty. In one town the city consul was stripped and scourged because the peevish wife of a Roman magistrate felt aggrieved that the public baths were not vacated for her use quickly enough. Worse still was the distinction between Italy and the provinces. “ Italy was to rule and feast : the provinces were to obey and pay.” The Roman province dates from the conquests of the First Punic War. The islands then acquired were “beyond seas,” and seemed to Rome too distant or too foreign to permit the extension to them of her liberal policy (at that time) toward subject communities in Italy. And Rome failed at this point to invent a new and needed form of government. The constitution of a city-state she had expanded and adapted with wonderful skill to the needs of a united Italy, but for conquests beyond Italy that scheme broke down. All the conquests after the war with Pyrrhus were called provinces, and were ruled essen- tially upon the model of the two or three little prefectures in Italy — the worst type of government Rome had used. To be sure, the Roman administration at first was more honest and capable than Carthaginian or Greek. But irresponsible power bred recklessness and corruption. The special marks of a province were ; payment of taxes in money or grain; and the absolute rule of a Roman governor. The Senate fixed at will the amount that each province must pay. Then it “farmed out” the collection of this revenue, at public auction, usually to some company of Roman capital- Growing distinction between citizens and subjects And between Italy and the prov- inces Marks of a province Taxes farmed 190 DECAY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE Despotic governors No redress for pro- vincials A four-fold class strife ists. The “contractor” paid down a lump sum, and had for himself all that he could squeeze from the province above that amount. This arrangement constantly tempted the contractor to extortion, and encouraged his agents in theft — all at the expense of the helpless provincials. If a contractor seized twice the intended amount, it would afterwards be almost impossible to prove the fact — especially when the only judge was the Roman governor who perhaps received part of the plunder. The whole corrupt and tyrannical system was like that by which Turkey in our day has ground down her Christian provinces. Everything tended to make the governor a tyrant. He had soldiers to back up any command. There was no appeal from his decrees, and no tribune to veto his acts. Even the persons of the provincials were at his mercy.^ He was appointed by the Senate from those nobles who had just held consulships or praetorships ; and commonly he had expected to get a province to plunder, in order to repay himself, or his creditors, for earlier outlay in getting office. True, a governor might be brought to trial ; but only after his term had expired ; and only at Rome, and before the Senate — whose members were interested in passing around such chances for exploitation among their order. Poor provincials, of course, had to endure any abuse without even seeking re- dress ; and in any case it was rarely possible to secure con- viction even of the grossest offenders. When a certain Verres was given the province of Sicily for three years, Cicero tells us, he cynically declared it quite enough : “ In the first year he could secure plunder for himself ; in the second for his friends ; in the third for his judges.” This new period of class struggle was to last nearly a century, and to end only with the coming of the Caesars — a common master. The strife was three-fold : in Rome, between rich and 1 In Cisalpine Gaul a Roman governor beheaded a noble Gaul, a fugitive guest in his camp, just to gratify with the sight a worthless favorite who was lamenting that he had missed the gladiatorial games at Rome (Davis’ Read- ings, II, No. 37). THE PROVINCES 191 poor; in Italy, between Rome and the “Allies” ; in the Roman world, between Italy and the provinces. Everywhere, too, there was possible strife between masters and slaves. In the closing period of the Roman Republic, there grew up a slavery beyond all parallel in extent ar d in horror. Says one leading authority, “In comparison with its abyss of suffering, all Negro slavery [has been] but a drop in the ocean.” Slaves were made cheap by the wars of conquest. Later, to keep up the cheap supply, man hunts were organized regularly on the frontiers, and kidnappers even desolated some of the provinces. At the famous slave market in Delos ten thousand slaves were once sold in a day. Cato (p. 180), the model Roman, advised his countrymen to work slaves like cattle, selling off the old and infirm. “The slave,” he said, “should be always working or sleeping.” Naturally, the Roman world was troubled by many terrible slave revolts. Roman slavery CHAPTER XXI THE GRACCHI, 133-121 B.C. Tiberius Gracchus His pro- posals for land re- form The evils described in the last chapter had not come upon Rome without being seen by many thoughtful men, and with- out some efforts at reform. But the older statesmen were too selfish, too narrow, or too timid ; and the great attempt at reform fell to two youths, the Gracchi brothers, throbbing with noble enthusiasm and with the fire of genius. Tiberius Gracchus was still under thirty at his death. He was one of the brilliant circle of young Romans about Scipio. His father- had been a magnificent aristocrat. His mother, Cornelia, a daughter of the elder Africanus, is as famous for her fine culture and noble nature as for being the “Mother of the Gracchi.” Tiberius himself was early distinguished in war, and marked by his uprightness and energy. This was the first man to strike at the root of the industrial, moral, and 'political decay of Italy, by trying to rebuild the yeoman class. He obtained the tribuneship for the year 133, and at once brought forward an agrarian^ law (the obsolete land clause of the Licinian law in a gentler but more effective form) ; 1. Each holder of public land was to surrender all that he held in excess of the legal limit, receiving in return absolute title to the three hundred acres left him. (This was generous treat- ment and neither confiscation nor demagogism. It was further provided that an old holder might keep about 160 acres more for each of his sons.) 2. The land reclaimed was to be given in small holdings (some eighteen acres each) to poor applicants, so as to re-create a yeomanry. And to make the reform lasting, these holders and their descendants were to possess their land without right 1 Agrarian refers to land, especially farm land ; from the Latin ager. Opponents of reform very commonly refer contemptuously to any attempt at social betterment as “ agrari^ism.” 192 It A Roman Holiday, with Procession CLASS GREED — THE GRACCHI 193 to sell. In return, they were to pay a small rent to the state. (This is somewhat like certain land projects which have been advocated in Britain in recent years with a view to relieving congestion in the towns and reviving rural life.) 3. To provide for changes, and to keep the law from being neglected, there was to be a 'permanent hoard of three commis- sioners to superintend the reclaiming and distributing of land. Gracchus urged his law with fiery eloquence : “ The wild beasts of Italy have their dens, but the brave men who spill their blood for her are without homes or settled habitations. The private soldiers fight and die to advance the luxury of the great, and they are called masters of the world without having a sod to call their own.” The Senate of course opposed the pro- posal as “ confiscation.” Tiberius brought the question directly before the tribes, as he had the right to do ; and the town tribes, and all the small farmers left in the rural tribes, rallied enthusi- astically to his support. The Senate put up one of the other tribunes, Octavius, to forbid a vote. After many pleadings, Tiberius resorted to a revolutionary measure. In spite of his colleague’s veto, he put to the Assembly the question whether he or Octavius should be deposed ; and when the vote was given unanimously against Octavius, Tiberius had him dragged from his seat. Then the great law was passed. Tiberius next proposed to extend Roman citizenship to all Italy. The Senate fell back upon an ancient cry: it accused him of trying to make himself king, and threatened to try him at the end of his term. To complete his work, and to save himself, Gracchus asked for reelection. The first two tribes voted for him, and then the Senate, having failed in other methods, declared his candidacy illegal. Tiberius saw that he was lost. He put on mourning and asked the people only to protect his infant son. It was harvest time, and the farmers were absent from the Assembly, which was left largely to the worthless city rabble. The more violent of the Senators and their friends, charging the undecided mob, put it to flight and murdered Gracchus — a patriot-martyr worthy of the company of the Cassius, Manlius, and Maelius of earlier days. Some The struggle Tiberius seeks to take the Allies into the state Tiberius murdered by the aris- tocrats 194 DECLINE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC His work lived for a while Aristocratic reaction Cains Gracchus Cains provides allies three hundred of his adherents also were killed and thrown into the Tiber, Rome, in all her centuries of stern, sober, patient constitutional strife, had never witnessed such a day before. The Senate declared the murder an act of patriotism, and followed up the reformer’s partisans with mock trials and perse- cutions, fastening one of them, says Plutarch, in a chest with vipers. But the work of Tiberius lived on. The Senate did not dare to interfere with the great law that had been carried. A consul for the year 132 inscribed on a monument, that he was the first who had installed farmers in place of shepherds on the public domains. The land commission (composed of the friends of Tiberius) continued its work zealously, and in 125 b.c. the citizen list of Rome had increased hy eighty thousand farmers. This “back to the land” movement was a vast and healthful reform. If it could have been kept up vigorously, it might have turned the dangerous rabble into sturdy husbandmen, and so removed Rome’s chief danger. But of course to re- claim so much land from old holders led to many bitter dis- putes as to titles ; and, after a few years, the Senate took ad- vantage of this fact to abolish the commission. Immediately after this reaction, Caius Gracchus took up the work. He had been a youth when Tiberius was assassinated. Now he was Rome’s greatest orator, — a dauntless, resolute, clear-sighted man, long brooding on personal revenge and on pa- triotic reform. Tiberius, he declared, appeared to him in a dream to call him to his task: “Why do you hesitate? You cannot escape your doom and mine — to live for the people and to die for them ! ” A recently discovered letter from Cor- nelia indicates, too, that his mother urged him on. First Gracchus sought to win political allies. He gained the favor of the equites by getting them the control of the law courts (in place of the former senatorial control) ; and the city mob he secured by a corn law providing for the sale of grain to the poor in the capital at half the regular market price — the other half to be made up from the public treasury. This measure undoubtedly had a vicious side, and aristocratic writers CLASS STRIFE — THE GRACCHI 195 have made the most of it. Perhaps Caius regarded it as a necessary poor-law, and as compensation for the public lands that still remained in the hands of the wealthy. It did not pauperize the poor, because such distributions by private patrons, especially by office-seekers, were already customary on a vast scale : it simply took this charity into the hands of the state and if Gracchus’ other measures could have been car- ried through, the need for such temporary charity would have been removed. Caius then entered upon the work of reform. The land com- mission was re&tablished, and its work was extended to the founding of Roman colo7iies in distant parts of Italy. Still more important, — Caius introduced the plan of Roman colonization out- side Italy. He sent six thousand colonists from Rome and other Italian towns to the waste site of Carthage, and planned other such foundations. If this statesmanlike measure had been allowed to work, it would not only have provided for the land- less poor of Italy : it would also have Romanized the provinces rapidly, and would have broken down the unhappy distinctions between them and Italy. (The colonists kept full citizenship.) Caius also pressed earnestly for political reform outside the city. He proposed, wisely and nobly, to confer full citizenship upon the Latins, and Latin rights upon all Italy. But the tribes, jealous of any extension of their privileges to others, were quite ready to desert him on these matters. The “knights” and the merchants, too, had grown hostile, because they hated to see commercial rivals like Corinth and Carthage rebuilt. The Senate seized its chance. It set on another tribune, Drusus, to outbid Caius by promises never meant to be kept. Drusus proposed to found twelve large colonies at once in Italy and to do away with the small rent paid by the new peasantry. There was no land for these colonies, but the mob thoughtlessly followed the treacherous demagogue and abandoned its true leader. When Gracchus stood for a third election he was de- feated. Now that he was no longer protected by the sanctity of the tribuneship, the nobles, headed by the consul (a ferocious Economic reform Roman colonies abroad Attempt to extend citizenship to the Allies Defeat and murder 196 DECLINE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC Work of the Gracchi undone personal enemy), were bent upon his ruin. The chance was soon found. The Senate tried to repeal the law for the colony at Carthage. This attempt caused many of the old supporters of Caius to come into the Assembly from the country. Re- membering the fate of Tiberius, some of them came in arms. The nobles cried out that this meant a conspiracy to overthrow the government. The consul called the senatorial party to arms and offered for the head of Gracchus its weight in gold {the first instance of head money in Roman civil strife). A bloody battle followed in the streets. Gracchus, taking no part in the conflict himself, was slain. Three thousand of his adherents were afterward strangled in prison. The victorious Senate struck hard. It resumed its sovereign rule. The proposed colonies were abandoned; then the great land reform itself was undone : the 'peasants were permitted to sell their land, and the commission was abolished. The old economic decay began again, and soon the work of the Gracchi was but a memory. Even that memory the Senate tried to erase. Men were forbidden to speak of the brothers, and Cornelia was not allowed to wear mourning for her sons. One lesson, however, had been taught. The Senate had drawn the sword. When next a great reformer should take up the work of the Gracchi, he would come as a military master, to sweep away the wretched oligarchy with the sword, or to receive its cringing submission. CHAPTER XXII THE SENATE AND MILITARY CHIEFS I. MARIUS AND SULLA, 106-78 b.c. The corrupt Senate had proved able to save its own unjust privileges by throttling reform, but it had grown glaringly incompetent to guard the Roman world against outside foes. Rome had left no other state able to keep the seas from pirates or to protect the frontiers of the civilized world against barba- rians. It was her plain duty therefore to police the Mediterra- nean lands herself. But even while she was murdering the fol- lowers of the Gracchi, the seas were swarming again with pirate fleets, and new barbarian thunderclouds were gathering un- watched along her borders. This was another reason why the Roman world was ready for a military master. The first great storm broke upon the northern frontier. The Cimhri and Teutones, two German peoples, migrating slowly with families, flocks, and goods, in search of new homes, reached the passes of the Alps in the year 113. These new bar- barians were huge, flaxen-haired, with fierce blue eyes, and they terrified the smaller Italians by their size, their terrific shouts, and their savage customs. They defeated five Roman armies in swift succession (the last with slaughter that recalled the day of Cannae), ravaged Gaul and Spain at will for some years, and finally threatened Italy itself. At the same time a dangerous Slave War had broken out in Sicily. Rome found a general none too soon. Marius (a rude soldier, son of a Volscian day-laborer) had just before risen from the ranks to chief command in a critical war against African bar- barians. In defiance of the law and against the wish of the Senate, the Assembly reelected him consul in his absence — and repeated this action each year for the next four years. While the Germans gave him time, Marius reformed and drilled 197 Incom- petence of the Senate — except to save its privileges The first German invasion Marius saves Rome 198 FALL OP THE ROMAN REPUBLIC Marius’ failure as a reformer The “ Social War”: Sulla All Italy enters the Roman state The peril from Mith- ridates in the East his army. Then, in the summer of 102, at Aquae Sextiae (Aix) in southern Gaul he annihilated the two hundred thousand warriors of the Teutones, with all their women and children, in a huge massacre (Davis’ Readings, II, No. 41). The next summer he destroyed in like manner the vast horde of the Cimbri, who had penetrated to the Po. The first German nation to attack Rome had won graves in her soil. Marius might now have made himself king ; or, better, had he been enough of a statesman, he might have used his power to reform the Republic. He was naturally the champion of the democrats ; but he looked on (undecided, and incapable except in the field) while the Senatorial party massacred the reviving democratic party once more in a street war — and so he lost his chance. Soon another war brought to the front another great general. In the year 91, the tribune Drusus, son of the Drusus who had opposed the Gracchi, took up the Gracchi ’s work and proposed to extend citizenship to the Italians. The nobles murdered him, and carried a law threatening death to any one who should renew the proposal. Then the Italians rose in arms. Once more Rome fought for life, surrounded by a ring of foes. This Social War (war with the Socii, or “Allies”) was as dangerous a contest as the imperial city ever waged (91-88 B.C.). Two things saved her. She divided her foes by granting citizenship to all who would at once lay down their arms ; and the aris- tocratic consul, Sulla, showed magnificent generalship. The “x\llies” were crushed, hut their cause was victorious. When the war was over, Rome gradually incorporated into the Roman state all Italy south of the Po, making all Italian cities municipia and raising the number of citizens from 400,000 to 900,000. For thirty years the Senate had looked on indolently while danger gathered head in Asia. Finally the storm had burst. Pontus, Armenia, and Parthia had grown into independent kingdoms, each of them, for long time past, encroaching upon MILITARY CHIEFS: POMPEY AND CAESAR 199 Rome’s territory. At last, Mithridates VI, king of Pontus, suddenly seized the Roman provinee of Asia Minor, then called the “Province of Asia.” The people hailed him as a deliverer, and joined him enthusiastically to secure freedom from the hated extortion of Roman tax-collectors and money-lenders. Eighty thousand Italians, scattered through the province, — men, women, and children, — were massacred, almost in a day, by the city mobs. Then Mithridates turned to Macedonia and Greece. Here, too, the people joined him against Rome. Athens welcomed him as a savior from Roman tyranny ; and twenty thousand more Italians were massacred in Greece and in the Aegean islands. Rome’s dominion in the Eastern world had crumbled. This news merely intensified anarchy in Rome. The Senate declared war on Mithridates and gave the command to Sulla. The Assembly insisted that Marius should have charge. Then followed savage civil war with regular armies, and with bloody massacre after massacre in the streets of the capital. After various ups and downs, Marius died in an orgy of triumph. And then, on his return from victory in the East, Sulla ruled for years with the title of 'permanent dictator (81-78 b.c.), stamping out the embers of democracy by systematic and long- continued assassination. Finally, when he thought Senatorial rule safely reestablished, he abdicated his monarchy — and died in peace, in debauchery. II. POMPEY AND CAESAR, 78-49 b.c. Sulla ’s death left one of his officers, Pompey, the leading man at Rome — a fair soldier, but otherwise of mediocre ability, vain, sluggish, and cautious. Pompey now forced or persuaded the Senate to send him with an overwhelming army to put down a long-standing rebellion in Spain — where he succeeded after the democratic general of the rebels (Sertorius) had been assassi- nated. In his absence, came a terrible slave revolt in Italy, headed by the gallant Spartacus. Spartacus was a Thracian captive who had been forced to beeome a gladiator. With a few companions he escaped from the gladiatorial school at Civil war Sulla’s dictatorship Pompey in Spain And Spartacus 200 FALL OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC Pompey and the pirates Pompey in the East “ Pompey the Great” Capua and fled to the mountains. There he was joined by other fugitive slaves until he was at the head of an army of 70,000 men. For three years he kept the field, and repeatedly threatened Rome itself. Just as Pompey returned to Italy, however, in 70 B.C., Spartacus’ forces were crushed by Crassus, another of Sulla ’s old lieutenants ; but Pompey arrived in time to cut to pieces a few thousand fugitives and to claim a share of the credit. And in 67, military danger called Pompey again to the front. The navy of Rome had fallen to utter decay, and swarms of pirates terrorized the seas, setting up a formidable state on the rocky coasts of Cilicia and negotiating with kings as equals. They paralyzed trade along the great Mediterranean highway, and even ravaged the coasts of Italy. Finally they threatened Rome itself with starvation by cutting off the grain fleets. To put down these plunderers Pompey was given supreme command for three years in the Mediterranean and in all its coasts for fifty miles inland. He received also unlimited author- ity over all the resources of the realm. Assembling vast fleets, he swept the seas in a three months ’ campaign. Then Pompey ’s command was extended indefinitely in order that he might carry on another war against Mithridates of Pontus, who for several years had again been threatening Roman power in Asia Minor. He was absent on this mission five years — a glorious period in his career, and one that proved the resources and energies of the commonwealth unexhausted, if only a respectable leader were found to direct them. He waged successful wars, crushed dangerous rebellions, conquered Pontus and Armenia, annexed wide provinces and extended the Roman bounds to the Euphrates, and restored order through- out the East. When he returned to Italy, in 62, he was “ Pompey the Great,” the leading figure in the world. The crown was within his grasp ; but he let it slip, expecting it to be thrust upon him. And now a democratic leader had risen to prominence. Caius Julius Caesar, of an old patrician family, had defied Sulla with quiet dignity when ordered to divorce his wife (daughter PLATE XXIX A Roman Chariot Race. — From a modern painting. PLATE XXX Above. — The Roman Forum To-day. — This view looks southward from the direction of the Capitoline (p. 151), toward the eastern edge of the Palatine. The group of columns in the foreground belonged to a Temple of Saturn, which was also the Roman Treasury. The rows of bases of pillars, on the right, belonged to a splendid basilica, or judgment hall, built by Julius Caesar. South of the Temple of Saturn, and to the left of Caesar’s basilica, lay the open market place. Below- — Roman Forum To-day, looking toward the Capitoline. Note the triumphal arch on the right (Arch of Titus; cf. Plate XXXIII)- MILITARY CHIEFS: POMPEY AND CAESAR 201 of a leading enemy of Sulla) — though Pompey had obeyed a like command. Barely escaping the massacres (still a boy in years), he had fled into hiding in the mountains during Sulla’s rule. During Pompey ’s absence, he had served in various pub- lic offices, and had striven earnestly to reorganize the crushed democratic party. In 64 b.c., by a daring stroke, he set up again at the Capitol the trophies of Marius, which Sulla had torn down. The return of Pompey seemed to close Caesar’s career; but the jealous and stupid Senate refused to give Pompey ’s soldiers the lands he had promised them for pay, and delayed even to ratify his wise political arrangements in the East. He had disbanded his army, and for two years he fretted in vain. Caesar seized the chance and formed a coalition between Pompey. Crassus. and himself. This alliance is sometimes called the “First Triumvirate.” Caesar furnished the brains and obtained the fruits. He became consul (59 b.c.) and set about securing Pompey ’s measures. The Senate refused even to consider them. Caesar laid them directly before the Assem- bly. A tribune, of the Senate’s party, interposed his veto. Caesar looked on calmly while a mob of Pompey ’s veterans drove the tribune from the Assembly. To delay proceedings, the other consul then announced that he would consult the omens. According to law, all action should have ceased until the result was known ; but Caesar serenely disregarded this antiquated check, and carried the measures. At the close of his consulship, Caesar secured command of the Gallic provinces for five years as proconsul. For the next ten years he abandoned Italy for the supreme work that opened to him beyond the Alps. He found the Province ^ threatened by two great invasions : the whole people of the Helvetii were migrating from their Alpine homes in search of more fertile lands ; and a great German nation, under the king Ariovistus, was already encamped in Gaul. The Gauls themselves were distracted by feuds and grievously oppressed by their dis- The “ First Trium- virate ” Caesar in Gaul 1 In 121 the southern part of Transalpine Gaul had been given the form of a province. It was commonly known as The Province (modern Provence). 202 FALL OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC And the results Caesar and Pompey Senate adopts Pompey orderly chieftains. Caesar levied armies hastily, and in one sum- mer drove back the Helvetii and annihilated the German in- vaders. Then he seized upon the Rhine as the proper Roman frontier, and, in a series of masterly campaigns, he made all Gaul Roman, extending his expeditions even into Britain. Whatever we think of the morality of these conquests, they were to produce infinite good for mankind. Their justifica- tion rests upon much the same basis as does the White occupa- tion of America. Says John Fiske (an American historian): “We ought to be thankful to Caesar every day that we live.” The result of the Gallic campaigns was two-fold. 1. The wave of German invasion was again checked, until Roman civilization had time to do its work and to prepare the way for the coming Christian church. “Let the Alps now sink,” exclaimed Cicero ; “the gods raised them to shelter Italy from the barbarians, but they are no longer needed.” 2. A wider home for Roman civilization was won among fresh populations, unexhausted and vigorous. The may widened from the Mediterranean circle to include the shores of the North and Baltic seas. The land that Caesar made Roman (modern France) was, next to Greece and Italy, to be the chief teacher of Europe. The close of Caesar’s five years in Gaul saw him easily su- perior to his colleagues, and able to seize power at Rome if he chose. But it was never his way to leave the work in hand unfinished. He renewed the “triumvirate” in 55 b.c., secur- ing the Gauls for five years more for himself, giving Spain to Pompey, and Asia to Crassus. Crassus soon perished in battle against the Parthians in the East. Then it became plain that the question whether Caesar or Pompey was to rule at Rome could not long be postponed. The Senate was growing frantic with fear of Caesar ’s victorious legions. Pompey, jealous of his more brilliant rival, drew nearer to the Senate again, and that terrified body adopted him eagerly as its champion, hoping that it had found another Sulla to check this new Marius. Pompey was made sole con- JULIUS CAESAR 203 €ul with supreme command in Italy, and at the same time his indefinite 'proconsular powers abroad were continued to him. Caesar’s office as proconsul was about to expire. He still shrank from civil war. He meant to secure the consulship for the next year and, in that case, he hoped to carry out reforms at Rome without violence. But his offers of conciliation and compromise were rebuffed by Pompey and the Senate. To stand for consul, under the law, Caesar must disband his army and come to Rome in person. There would be an interval of some months when he would be a private citizen. The aristocrats boasted openly that in this helpless interval they would destroy him as they had the Gracchi. Caesar offered to lay down his command and disband his troops, if Pompey were ordered to do the same. Instead, the aristocrats carried a decree that Caesar must disband his troops before a certain day or be declared a public enemy. Two tribunes vetoed the decree, but were mobbed, and barely escaped to Caesar’s camp in Cisalpine Gaul. At last the Senate had made Caesar choose between civil war and ruin both for himself and for all his hopes for the Roman world. He had made no preparation for war. Only one of his eleven legions was with him in Cisalpine Gaul ; the others were dispersed in distant garrisons far beyond the Alps. But within an hour after the arrival of the fugitives, he was on the march with only his 5000 men. The same night he crossed the Rubicon — the little stream that separated his province from “Italy.” This act was war: a proconsul was strictly forbidden by law to bring an army into Italy. Caesar paused a few moments, it is said, for the last time, when he reached the bank of the river at the head of his troops ; then he spurred forward, exclaiming, “ The die is cast.” And forces Caesar to choose civil war or ruin Caesar crosses the Rubicon PAET V— THE EOMAH EMPIEE Pharsalus “I came, I saw, I con- quered ” Rome was the whole world, and all the world was Rome. — Spenser, Ruins of Rome. CHAPTER XXIII FOUNDING THE EMPIRE, 49-31 B.C. With audacious rapidity Caesar led his one legion directly upon the much larger forces that ponderous Pompey was mustering ; and in sixty days, almost without bloodshed, he was master of the peninsula. Following Pompey to Greece, he became master of the world by a battle at Pharsalus the next spring, Caesar’s little army had been living for weeks on roots and bark of trees, and it numbered less than half Pompey ’s well-provided troops. Pom- pey, too, had his choice of positions, and he had never been beaten in the field. But despite his career of unbroken success, Pompey was “formed for a corporal,” while Caesar, though caring not at all for mere military glory, was one of the great- est captains of all time. And says an English historian : “The one host was composed in great part of a motley crowd from Greece and the East . . . the other was chiefly drawn from the Gallic populations of Italy and the West, fresh, vigorous, intelligent, and united in devotion and loyalty to their leader. ... With Caesar was the spirit of the future; and his victory marks the moment when hu- manity could once more start hopefully upon a new line of progress.” Other wars took precious time. Egypt and Asia Minor each required a campaign. In Egypt, with the voluptuous queen, Cleopatra, Caesar wasted a few months ; but he atoned for this delay by swift prosecution of the war in Asia against the son of Mithridates. This was the campaign that Caesar reported rather boastfully to his lieutenants in Rome, — “I came, I saw, I conquered.” 204 JULIUS CAESAR’S FIVE YEARS 205 Caesar ’s first constructive work was to reconcile Italy to his government. He maintained strict order, guarded property carefully, and punished no political opponent who laid down arms. Only one of his soldiers had refused to follow him when he decided upon civil war. Caesar sent all this officer’s prop- erty after him to Pompey’s camp, and continued that policy toward the nobles who left Italy to join Pompey. On the field of victory, he called to his vengeful soldiers to remember that the enemy were their fellow-citizens; and after Pharsalus, he employed in the public service any Roman of ability, without regard to the side he had fought on. This clemency brought its proper fruit. Almost at once all classes, except a few aris- tocratic extremists, became heartily reconciled to his rule. From the time of the Gracchi, Rome had been moving toward monarchy. Owing to the corruption of the populace in the capital, and to the incompetent greed of the oligarchs, the tremendous power of the tribune had grown occasionally into a virtual dictatorship, as with Caius Gracchus. Owing to the growing military danger on the f rontiers, the mighty authority of a pro- consul of a single province was sometimes extended, by special decrees, over vaster areas for indefinite time, as with Marius, Sulla, Pompey, an 'aesar. To make a monarch needed but to unite these two powers, at home and abroad, in one person. This was what Caesar did. He preserved the old Republi- can forms. The Senate debated, and the Assembly elected aediles, consuls, and praetors as before. But Caesar received “the tribunician power” for life, and the title of Imperator for himself and his descendants. This term, from which we get our word “Emperor,” had meant simply supreme general, and had been used only of the master of legions in the field abroad. Probably Caesar would have liked the title of king, since the recognized authority that went with it would have helped him to keep order. But he found that name still hateful to the people ; and so he adopted Imperator for his title as monarch. The corruption of the populace and the incapacity of the greedy oligarchy, we have said, made monarchy inevitable. Caesar reconciles Italy Caesar’s monarchy the result of long- standing conditions 206 FOUNDING THE ROMAN EMPIRE Caesar the champion of the op- pressed pro- vincial world A third condition — the Senatorial misgovernment of the prov- inces— made Caesar’s monarchy a boon to the great Roman world outside Italy. Indeed Caesar rose to power as the champion of suffering subject populations. Already, as proconsul, on his own author- ity, he had admitted the Cisalpine Gauls to all the privileges of Roman citizens. In his most arduous campaigns, he had kept up correspondence with leading provincials in other parts of the Empire. Other Roman conquerors had spent part of their plunder of the provinces in adorning Rome with public buildings : Caesar had expended vast sums in adorning and improv- ing 'provincial cities, not only in his own districts of Gaul and Spain, but also in Asia and Greece. All previous Roman ar- mies had been made up of Italians ; Caesar ’s army was drawn from Cisalpine Gaul, and indeed partly from Gaul beyond the Alps. Many of the subject peoples had begun to look to him as their best hope against Senatorial rapacity ; and the great body of them wished for monarchy as an escape from anarchy and oligarchic misrule. (To call Caesar ’s monarchy a solution for the problems of his day is not to call monarchy good at all times. A despotism can get along with less virtue and intelligence than a free government can. The Roman world was not good enough or wise enough for free government ; and indeed it seemed on the verge of ruin. The despotism of the Caesars was a poison — but a strong medieine which pre- served that world for five precious centuries.) Julius Caesar. — We are not sure, how- ever, that any of the so-called “busts of Caesar” are really authentic. JULIUS CAESAR’S FIVE YEARS 207 Caesar at once made over the system of provincial govern- ment. The old governors had been irresponsible tyrants, with every temptation to plunder. Under Caesar they began to be trained servants of a stern master who looked to the welfare of the whole Empire. Their authority was lessened, and they were surrounded by a system of checks in the presence of other offi- cials dependent directly upon the Imperator. Caesar’s plans were broader than this. He meant to put the provinces upon an equality with Italy, and to mmld the dis- tracted Roman world into one mighty whole under equal laws. Something he accomplished in the brief time left him. He incorporated all Cisalpine Gaul in Italy, and multiplied Roman citizenship by adding whole communities in Gaul beyond the Alps, in Spain, and elsewhere. Leading Gauls, too, were ad- mitted to the Senate, whose membership Caesar raised to 900, meaning to make it represent the whole Empire. Rome and Italy were not neglected. A commission, like that of the Gracchi, was put at work to reclaim and allot public lands. Landlords were required to employ at least one free laborer for every two slaves. Italian colonization in the prov- inces was pressed vigorously. In his early consulship (59 b.c.), Caesar had refounded Capua ; now he did the like for Carthage and Corinth, and these noble capitals, which had been crim- inally destroyed by the narrow jealousy of the Roman mer- chants, rose again to wealth and power. Eighty thousand landless citizens of Rome were provided for beyond seas; and by these and other means the helpless poor in the capital, dependent upon free grain, were reduced from 320,000 to 150,000. Soon after the time of the Gracchi, it became necessary to extend the practice of selling cheap grain to distributing free grain, at state expense, to the populace of the capital. This became one of the chief duties of the government. To have omitted it would have meant starvation and a horrible insur- rection. For centuries to come, the degraded populace was ready to support any political adventurer who seemed v/illing and able to satisfy lavishly its cry for “bread and games.” To have attacked the growing evil so boldly is one of Caesar’s Caesar reforms the provincial system And estends Roman citizenship outside Italy Renewal of the work of the Gracchi for Italy 208 FOUNDING THE ROMAN EMPIRE chief titles to honor. With a longer life, no doubt he would have lessened it still further. His successors soon abandoned the task. "r Rigid economy was introduced into all branches of the govern- ment. A bankrupt law released all debtors from further claims, if they surrendered then property to their creditors, and so Theater at Pompeii. — Every Roman city had its awp/ii theater {two theaters back to back) for shows and gladiatorial games. Cf. illustrations after pp. 228, 232. the demoralized Italian society was given a fresh start. Tax- ation was equalized and reduced. A comprehensive census was taken for all Italy, and measures were under way to extend it over the Empire. Caesar also began the codification of the irregular mass of Roman law, created a great 'public library, rebuilt the Forum, began vast public works in all parts of the Empire, and reformed the coinage and the calendar.^ 1 The Roman calendar had been inferior to the Egyptian and had got three months out of the way, so that the spring equinox came in June. To correct the error, Caesar made the year 46 (“the last year of confusion”) consist of four hundred and forty-five days, and for the future, instituted the system of leap years, as we have it, except for a slight correction by Pope Gregory in the sixteenth century. JULIUS CAESAR’S FIVE YEARS 209 Caesar was still in the prime of manhood, and had every reason to hope for time to complete his work. No public enemy could be raised against him within the empire. One danger there was : lurking assassins beset his path. But with characteristic dignity he quietly refused a bodyguard, declaring it better to die at any time than to live always in fear of death. And so the daggers of men whom he had spared struck him down. A group of irreconcilable nobles plotted to take his life, — • led by the envious Cassius and the weak enthusiast Brutus, whom Caesar had heaped with favors. They accomplished their crime in the Senate-house, on the Ides of March (March 15), 44 B.c. Crowding around him, and fawning upon him as if to ask a favor, the assassins suddenly drew their daggers. Ac- cording to an old story, Caesar at first, calling for help, stood on his defense and wounded Cassius ; but when he saw the loved and trusted Brutus in the snarling pack, he cried out sadly, “Thou, too, Brutus!” and drawing his toga about him with calm dignity, he resisted no longer, but sank at the foot of Pompey’s statue, bleeding from three and twenty stabs. No doubt, “Caesar was ambitious.” He was a broad- minded genius, with a strong man’s delight in ruling well. The murder came only five years after Caesar crossed the Rubicon. Those years, with their seven campaigns, gave only eight- een months for constructive reform. The work was left in- complete ; but that which was actually accomplished dazzles the imagination, and marked out the lines along which Caesar’s successors, less grandly, had to move. The assassination led to fourteen years more of dreary civil war. Rome and all Italy rose against the murderers, and they fled to the East, where Pompey’s name was still a strength to the aristocrats. They were followed and crushed at Philippi in Macedonia (42 b.c.) by the forces of the West led by Mark Antony (one of Caesar’s officers) and Octavius Caesar, an adopted son of the first Imperator. Then Octavius and Antony divided the Roman world between themselves. Soon each The Ides of March Character and work Octavius and Antony 210 FOUNDING THE ROMAN EMPIRE Battle of Actium was plotting for the other’s share. The East had fallen to An- tony. In Egypt he became infatuated with Cleopatra. He bestowed rich provinces upon her, and, it was rumored, he planned to supplant Rome by Alexandria as chief capital. The West turned to Octavius as its champion. In 31, the rivals met in the naval battle of Actium off the coast of Greece. Early in the battle, Cleopatra took flight with the Egyptian ships. The infatuated Antony followed, deserting his fleet and army. Once more the West had won. Cleopatra, last of the Ptole- mies, soon took poison rather than grace Octavius’ triumph and Egypt became a Roman province. For Further Reading. — Davis’ Readings, II, Nos. 50-54 ; and on Caesar’s constructive work, War de-Fowler’s Caesar, 326-359. Dr. Davis’ Friend of Caesar (fiction) and Plutarch’s Lives of Caesar, Pom- peius, and Cicero make admirable reading. Fact Drills 1. List of important battles in Roman history to this point, with results of each. 2. Dates. Continued drill on the list given on p. 147. Add the following and group other dates around these : 510(?) B.c. “Expulsion” of the kings. 390(?) B.c. Sack of Rome by the Gauls; and in like manner, the events for 367, 266, 146, 133, 49, 31 b.c. CHAPTER XXIV THE EMPERORS OF THE FIRST TWO CENTURIES, 31 B.C.-180 A.D. Octavius spent the first two years after Actium in restoring order in the East. On his return to Rome in 29 b.c., the gates of the Temple of Janus were closed, in token of the reign of peace.^ By prudent and generous measures, he soon brought back prosperity to long distracted Italy, and in 27 he laid down his office of triumvir (which had become a sole dictatorship) and declared the Republic restored. In fact, the Empire was safely established. Republican forms, indeed, were respected even more scrupu- lously than by Julius Caesar. But supreme power lay in Octa- vius’ hands as Imperator, — master of the legions. This office he kept, and the Senate now added to it the new title Augustus, which had before been used only of the gods. It is by this name that he is thenceforth known. He was so popular that he did not need the open support of the army — which he stationed mostly on the frontiers. He lived more simply than many a noble, and walked the streets like any citizen, charming all whom he met by his frankness and courtesy. Augustus ruled forty-five years after Actium, carrying out the policies of the great Julius, and renewing, for the last time, the work of founding colonies outside Italy. Peace reigned ; order was established ; industry revived. Marshes were drained, and roads were built. A census of the whole Empire was taken, and many far-distant communities were granted Roman citizenship. Augustus himself tells us, in a famous inscription that in one year he began the rebuilding of eighty, two temples ; and of Rome he said, — “I found it brick, and * These gates were always open when the Romans were engaged in any war. In all Roman history, they had been closed only twice before, — and one of these times was in the legendary reign of King Numa. 211 Augustus, 31 B.C - 14 A.D. Under republican forms 212 EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE, 31 B.C-180 A.D. Worship of the dead Augustus And that of Christ have left it marble.” He was also a generous patron of litera- ture and art. The “Augustan Age” is the golden age of Latin literature. At the death of Augustus, the Senate decreed him divine honors. Temples were erected in his honor, and he was wor- shiped as a god. Such worship seems impious to us, but to the Romans it was connected with the idea of ancestor worship and with the worship of an- cient heroes, and was a way of recognizing the Emperor as “the father of all his people.” The practice was adopted for the successors of Augustus, and this worship of dead em- perors soon became a general and widespread religious rite, the only religion common to the whole Roman world, — binding together the dwellers on the Euphrates, the Nile, the Tiber, the Rhone, and the Tagus. But shortly before this wor- ship began, when the reign of Augustus was a little more Augustus Caesar. — A statue now ■. in the Vatican, Rome. than halt gone, there was born in a manger in an obscure hamlet of a distant corner of the Roman world, the child Jesus, Whose religion, after some centuries, was to replace the worship of dead emperors and all other religious faiths of the pagan world. At Augustus’ death, every one recognized that some one must be appointed to succeed him, and the Senate at once granted PLATE XXXI Above. — Roman Forum, northeast side, to-day. Below. — Roman Forum, same as above, as it was in Roman times, accord- ing to the “ restoration,” by Benvenuti. PLATE XXXII Ruins of the Aqueduct of Claudius, Crossing the Plain of Latium. — The water was brought forty miles from distant Apennine lakes to Rome, and for the final ten miles it was carried on arches like these. STORY OF THE EMPERORS 213 his titles and authority to his stepson Tiberius, whom he had “ recommended ” to them. Tiberius was stern, morose, suspi- cious, but an able, conscientious ruler. The nobles of the capital conspired against him, and were punished cruelly. The popu- lace of Rome, too, hated him because he abolished the Assembly where they had sold their votes, and because he refused to amuse them with gladiatorial sports. Therefore Tiberius established a permanent body of soldiers {-praetorian guards) in the capital ; and he encouraged a system of paid spies. With reason the people of Rome looked upon him as a gloomy tyrant. But in the provinces he was proverbial for fairness, kindness, and good government. “ A good shepherd shears his sheep, he does not flay them,” was one of his sayings. In this reign occurred the crucifixion of Christ. Tiberius had adopted a grand nephew as his heir, and the Senate confirmed the appointment. This youth (Caligula) had been a promising boy ; but now he suddenly became an insane monster, and was slain finally by officers of his guard. Caligula had named no successor. For a moment the Senate hoped to restore the old Republic ; but the praetorians (devoted to the great Julian line) hailed Claudius, an uncle of Caligula, as Imperator, and the Senate had to confirm the appointment. Claudius had been a timid, awkward scholar and an author of tiresome books ; but now he gave his time faithfully to the hard work of governing, with good results. His reign is famous for a great extension of citizenship to provincials, for legislation to protect slaves against cruel masters, and for the conquest of southern Britam. Nero, Claudius’ stepson, became Emperor as s. likable boy of sixteen. He had been trained by the philosopher Seneca (p. 226), and for two thirds of his reign he was guided by wise ministers. He cared little for affairs of government, but was fond of art, and ridiculously vain of his skill in music and poetry and he sought popular applause also as a gladiator. After some years his fears, together with a total lack of principle, led him Tiberius, 14-37 a.d. Caligula, 37-41 Claudius, 41-54 Nero, 54-68 214 EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE, 31 B.C-180 A.D. The burn- ing of Rome Nero’s persecution of Christians to crime and tyranny. Wealthy nobles were put to death in numbers, and their property confiscated, Seneca himself being among the victims. During this reign, half of Rome was laid in ashes by the “ Great Fire” (Davis’ Readings, II, No. 65). In the densely populated parts of the city, many-storied, cheap, flimsy tenement houses projected their upper floors nearly across the narrow, crooked thoroughfares, so that the fire leaped easily from side to side. For six days and nights the flames raged unchecked, surging in billows over the slopes and through the valleys of the Seven Hills. By some, Nero was believed to have ordered the de- struction, in order that he might rebuild in more magnificent fashion. On better authority he was reported to have at least enjoyed the spec- tacle from the roof of his palace, singing a poem he had composed on the “ Burning of Troy.” The new sect of Christians also were accused of starting the fire, out of their supposed “ hatred for the human race,” and because they had so often declared that a fiery destruction of the world was coming. To turn attention from himself, Nero took up the charge against them, and carried out the first persecution of the Christians, one of the most cruel in all history. Victims, tarred with pitch, were burned as torches in the imperial gardens, to light the indecent revelry of the court at night; and others, clothed in the skins of animals, were torn by dogs for the amusement of the mob. The persecution, however, was confined to the capital. Nero’s disgraceful rule finally roused the legions on the fron- tiers to rebel ; and to avoid capture, he stabbed himself, exclaim- ing, “ What a pity for such an artist to die ! ” Bronze Coin of Nero — to commemorate the closing of the doors of the Temple of Janus (cf. p. 211, note). The year 69 a.d. was one of wild confusion and war between STORY OF THE EMPERORS 215 several rivals. Finally the powerful legions in Syria “pro- Vespasian claimed” their general, Flavius Vespasianus, who quickly became master of the Empire. He and his sons are known as Flavians ^ (from his first name). He was the grandson of a Sabine laborer, and was blunt and coarse, but honest, industrious, and capable. He hated sham ; and at the end, as he felt the hand of death Detail prom the Triumphal Arch op Titus (see Plate XXXIV, facing 217), showing Jewish captives and the seven-branched candlestick taken from the Temple at Jerusalem. upon him, he said, with grim irony, “I think I am becom- ing a god,” — in allusion to the worship of dead emperors. In this reign came the destruction of Jerusalem. Judea had been made a tributary state by Pompey (63 b.c.), and in 4 A.D. it became a Roman province. But the Jews were restless under foreign rule, and in the year 66, in Nero’s time, a national uprising drove out the Roman officers. This rebellion was now put down by Vespasian and his son Titus. In 70 a.d. Titus captured Jerusalem, after a stubborn siege. He had offered 1 The preceding five emperors (descendants-in-law of Julius Caesar) are known as the Julian line. They had been Romans ; the Flavians came from Italy outside Rome. Their successors were provincials. 216 EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE, 31 B.C.-180 A.D. sSiege and liberal terms ; but the starving Jews made a frenzied resistance, of and when the walls were finally stormed, many of them slew \;alem their women and children and died in the flames. The miserable remnant for the most part were sold into slavery. (Only Detail from Trajan’s Column (see Plate XXXIII opposite) : Trajan sacrificing a bull at the bridge over the Danube, just completed by his soldiers. This bridge was a remarkable structure, — probably the most wonderful bridge in the world until the era of iron and steel bridgework. recently, during the World War, was a project started to re- establish a Jewish state in Palestine.) Pompeii Titus had been associated in the government with his father. by^Vesu- most famous event of his two years’ reign was the destruc- vius tion of Pompeii and Herculaneum hy Vpsumus (Plate XXIV). Domitian, Domitian, younger brother of Titus, was a strong, stern ^^“96 ruler. He built a famous wall 336 miles long, to complete the northern boundary from the Rhine to the Danube — a line of forts joined to one another by earthen ramparts ; and he took the office of Censor for life, and so could legally make and un- make senators at will. This led the Roman nobles to conspire against him and finally he was assassinated. PLATE XXXIII Trajan’s Column, commemorating the Dacian conquest. It is 100 feet high, and the spiral bands of sculpture that circle it contain 2500 figures. It is the finest survival of a favorite Roman form of monument. Cf. p. 32 for an earlier model. See a detail on p. 216. PLATE XXXIV Triumphal Arch of Titus (showing the Colosseum in the distance). (Cf. Plate XXXVII facing p. 228.) The triumphal arch, spanning a city- street like a gate, was a favorite decorative application of the arch by the Romans to commemorate victories. For an Egyptian model, see illustration after p. 10. Napoleon’s famous Arch of Triumph at Paris is a modern imitation. For the position of the Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum, see Plate facing p. 201. For detail, see p. 215. STORY OF THE EMPERORS 217 The Senate chose the next ruler from its own number ; and that emperor with his four successors are known as the five good emperors. The first of the five was Nerva, an aged senator of Spanish descent, who died after a kindly rule of six- teen months. Trajan, the adopted son of Nerva, was a Spaniard and a great general. He conquered and colonized Dacia, a vast district north of the Danube, and then attacked the Parthians in Asia, adding new provinces beyond the Eu- phrates. These victories mark the greatest extent of the Roman Empire. Hadrian, a Spanish kinsman of Trajan, succeeded him. Wisely and courageously, he abandoned most of Trajan’s conquests in Asia (disregarding the sneers and murmurs of nobles and populace), and withdrew the frontier there to the old line of the Euphrates, more easily defended. He looked to the fortification of other exposed frontiers. His most famous work of this kind was a wall in Britain, from the Solway to the Tyne, to keep out the unconquered Piets of the northern highlands.^ Hadrian spent most of his twenty years’ rule in inspecting the provinces. Now he is in Britain, now in Dacia ; again in Gaul, or in Africa, Syria, or Egypt. He spent several months in Asia Minor, and in Macedonia ; and twice he visited Athens, his favorite city, which he adorned with splendid buildings. Hadrian was followed by Antoninus Pius, a pure and gentle spirit, the chief feature of whose peaceful rule was legislation to prevent cruelty to slaves. On the evening of his death, when asked by the officer of the guard for the watchword for the night, Antoninus gave the word Equanimity, which might have served as the motto of his life. (Davis’ Readings gives a noble tribute to his character by his successor.) Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, nephew and adopted son of 1 This “Wall of Hadrian” was seventy miles long, extending almost from sea to sea. Considerable portions can still be traced. It consisted of three distinct parts : (1) a tv/enty-foot stone wall and ditch, on the north ; (2) a double earthen rampart and ditch, about one hundred and twenty yards to the south ; and (3) between wall and rampart a series of fourteen fortified camps connected by a road. Nerva, 96-98 Trajan, 98-117 Hadrian, 117-138 Antoninus Pius, 138-161 Marcus Aurelius, 161-180 Commodus, 180-192 218 EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE, 31 B.C -180 A.D. Antoninus Pius, was a philosopher and student. He belonged to the Stoic school, but in him that stern philosophy was softened by a gracious gentleness. His tastes made him wish to con- tinue in his father’s footsteps, but he had fallen upon harsher times. The barbarians renewed their attacks upon the Danube, the Rhine, and the Euphrates. The emperor and his lieu- Ruins of a Temple to Zeus at Athens Built by Hadrian. — Note the Corinthian style (p. 72) and the Acropolis in the background. tenants beat them back, only at the cost of almost incessant war ; and the gentle philosopher lived and wrote and died in camp. A great Asiatic plague, too, depopulated the Empire and demoralized society. The populace thought the disease a visitation from offended gods, and were frantically excited against the unpopular sect of Christians who refused to worship the gods of Rome. Thus the reign of the kindly Aurelius was marked by a cruel persecution. Marcus Aurelius’ son, Commodus, was an infamous wretch whose reign begins the period of decay. For Further Reading. — Davis’ Readings, II, No. 56 (Augustus’ own account of his work) and No. 59, and Capes’ Early Empire, especially ch. i. I I CHAPTER XXV THE EARLY EMPIRE : GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY Republican Rome had little to do .. . with modern life: imperial Rome, everything. — Stille. The early emperors did not invent much new political machin- ery. Following the example of Julius Caesar, each one merely concentrated in his own person the most important offices of the Republic, — powers which had originally been intended to check one another. He could appoint and degrade senators; he led the debates in the Senate — and could control its decrees, which had become the chief means of lawmaking. He appointed the governors of the provinces, the generals of the legions, the city prefect, the head of the eity police, and the prefect of the prae- torians. Each successor of Augustus was hailed Imperator Caesar Augustus. (The title Caesar survived till recently, in Kaiser and in Tsar.) The Roman world was a broad belt of land stretching east and west, from the Atlantic to the Euphrates, with the Mediter- ranean for its central highway. On the south it was bounded by sandy deserts, African and Arabian ; on the north, by stormy waters ; and at the weaker gaps — on the Rhine, the Danube, the Euphrates, and at the Walls of Domitian and Hadrian — stood mighty sleepless legions to watch and ward. Within this vast territory, about as large as the United States, were 75,000,000 people. They lived mostly in cities (muni- cipia) large and small, throbbing with industry and with intel- lectual life and possessing some local self-government in those municipal institutions they were to pass on to us. Stockaded villages had changed into stately marts of trade, huts into pal- aces, footpaths into paved roads. Roman irrigation made i* part of the African desert the garden of the world (where to-day 219 The “ Prin- cipate ” Life under the Empire concen- trated in “ muni- cipia ” 220 EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE — TO 180 A.D. only desolate ruins mock the eye), and the symbol of Africa was a gracious virgin with arms filled with sheaves of golden grain. Gaul (France) was Romanized late, after Julius Caesar ; but in the third century a.d. that district had 116 flourishing cities, with public baths, temples, aqueducts,^ roads, and famous schools that drew Roman youth even from the Tiber’s banks. Aqueduct near Nimbs, France, built about 150 a.d. by the Emperor An- toninus Pius to supply the city with water from mountain springs 25 miles distant ; present condition of the long gray structure, where it crosses the Gard River. Water pipes were carried through hills by tun- nels and across streams and valleys on arches like these. This aqueduct has vanished (its stones used for other buildings) except for this part ; but here it is still possible to walk through the pipes on the top row of arches. Most towns were places of 20,000 people or less, and usually each one was merely the center of a farming district ; but there were also a few great centers of trade, — Rome, with perhaps 2,000,000 people ; Alexandria (in Egypt) and Antioch (in Asia) 1 The water supply of many large cities was better than that of large cities to-day, and the same is true of public baths — which in Rome could care for 60,000 people at a time. TOWN LIFE 221 with 500,000 each ; and Coninth, Carthage, Ephesus, and Lyons, with some 250,000 apiece. These commercial cities were likewise centers of manufac- tures. The Emperor Hadrian visited Alexandria (about 125 A.D.) and wrote in a letter : “No one is idle ; some work glass ; some make paper (papyrus) ; some weave linen. Money is the only god.” The looms of Sidon and the other old Phoeni- cian cities turned forth ceaselessly their precious purple cloths. Miletus, Rhodes, and other Greek cities of the Asiatic coast were famous for their woolen manufactures. Syrian factories poured silks, costly tapestries, and fine leather into western Europe. Each town had many gilds of artisans (p. 171). In Rome the bakers’ gild listed 254 shops ; and the silversmiths of Ephesus were numerous enough {Acts xix, 23-41) to stir up a formidable riot. (Slaves did most of the unskilled labor ; and a baker or mason would have two or three or a dozen to work under his direction.) The roads were safe. Piracy ceased from the seas, and trade flourished as it was not to flourish again until the days of Co- lumbus. The ports were crowded with shipping, and the Medi- terranean was spread with happy sails (ships not very different from those in which Columbus was to cross the Atlantic). The grand military roads ran in trunk-lines — a thousand miles at a stretch — from every frontier toward the central heart of the Empire, with a dense network of branches in every province. Guidebooks described routes and distances. Inns abounded. The imperial couriers that hurried along the great highways passed a hundred and fifty milestones a day. Private > travel from the Thames to the Euphrates was swifter, safer, and more comfortable than ever again until the age of railroads, less than a century ago. ’Ihe products of one region of the Empire were known in every other part. Women of the Swiss mountains wore jewelry made by the silversmiths of Ephesus ; and gentlemen in Britain and in Cilicia drank wines made in Italy. One merchant of Phrygia (in Asia Minor) asserts on his gravestone that he had sailed “ around Greece to Italy seventy-two times.” Industry and trade Communica- tion by sea and land Commerce 222 EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE — TO 180 A.D. And men traveled for pleasure as well as for business. One language answered all needs from London to Babylon, and it was as common for the gentleman of Gaul to visit the wonders of Rome or of the Nile as for the American to-day to spend a sum- mer in England or France. (Quite in modern fashion, such trav- elers defaced precious monuments with scrawls. The colossal The Black Gate {Porto, Nigra), a Roman structure at Trier (Treves). Cf- text on p. 223. — That same frontier city contains other famous Roman ruins : cf. Early Progress, p. 380. Egyptian statue pictured after p. 27 bears a scratched inscrip- tion that a certain Roman “Gemullus with his dear wife Rufilla” had visited it.) There was also a vast commerce with regions beyond the bound- aries of the Empire. As English and Dutch traders, three hun- dred years ago, journeyed far into the savage interior of America for better bargains in furs, so the indomitable Roman traders pressed on into regions whefe the Roman legions never camp|ed. From the Baltic shores they brought back amber, fur, and TRADE, TRAVEL, AND PEACE 223 flaxen German hair with which the dark Roman ladies liked to adorn their heads. Such goods the trader bought cheaply with toys and trinkets and wine. A Latin poet speaks of “many merchants” who reaped “immense riches” by daring voyages over the Indian Ocean “to the mouth of the Ganges.” India, Ceylon, and Malaysia sent to Europe indigo, spices, pearls, sapphires, drawing away, in return, vast sums of Roman gold and silver. And from shadowy realms beyond India came the silk yarn that kept the Syrian looms busy. Chinese annals tell of Roman traders bringing to Canton glass and metal wares, amber, and drugs — and speak also of an embassy from Marcus Aurelius. In 212 A.D. the long process of extending citizenship was com- pleted by an imperial decree making all free inhabitants of the Empire full citizens. This wiped out all remaining distinctions between Italy and the former “provinces”; and the later emperors were more at home at York or Cologne or at some capital by the Black Sea than at old Rome — which perhaps they visited only once or twice for some solemn pageant. This widespread, happy society rested in “ the good Roman peace” for more than two hundred years, — from the reign of Augustus Caesar through that of Marcus Aurelius, or from 31 B.c. to 180 A.D. No other part of the world so large has ever known such unbroken prosperity and such freedom from the waste and horror of war for so long a time. Few troops were seen ivithin the Empire, and “the distant clash of arms [with barbarians] on the Euphrates or the Danube scarcely disturbed the tranquillity of the Mediterranean lands.” The “Roman” army had become a body of disciplined mer- cenaries, with intense pride in the Roman name. More and more the legions were renewed by enlistment on the frontiers where they were stationed, and in the third century barbarians became a large part of the army. From the hungry foes surging against its walls, the Empire drew the guardians of its peace. At the expiration of their twenty years with the eagles, the 1 The Roman military standard became the model for late European gov- ernments that claimed to succeed Rome. The world becomes Roman Peace and prosperity for 200 years 224 EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE — TO 180 A.D. Unity of the Roman world Architec- ture The universities and gram- mar schools veterans became Roman citizens, no matter where recruited ; and commonly they were settled in colonies with grants of land. Thus they helped mix the many races of Rome into one. Span- ish troops in Switzerland, Swiss in Britain, Gauls in Africa, Africans in Armenia, settled and married far from the lands of their birth. A few of the emperors at Rome, like Nero and Caligula, were weak or wicked ; but their follies and vices concerned only the nobles of the capital. The Empire as a whole went on with little change during their short reigns. To the vast body of the people of the Roman world, the crimes of an occa- sional tyrant were unknown. To them he seemed (like the good emperors) merely the symbol of the peace and prosperity which enfolded them. In language, and somewhat in culture, the West remained Latin, and the East,^ Greek; but trade, travel, and the mild and just Roman law made the world one in feeling. Briton, African, Asiatic, knew one another only as Romans. An Egyptian Greek of the period expressed this world-wide patri- otism in a noble ode, closing, — “Though we tread Rhone’s or Orontes’^ shore, Yet are we all one nation evermore.” Painting and sculpture followed the old Greek models ; but the Roman art was architecture. Many of the world’s most famous buildings belong to the Early Empire. Roman archi- tecture had more massive grandeur, and was fonder of orna- ment, than the Greek. Instead of the simple Doric or Ionic columns it commonly used the rich Corinthian, and it added, for its own especial features, the noble Roman arch and the dome. Rome, Alexandria, and Athens were the three great centers of learning. Each had its university, with vast libraries and many professorships. Vespasian began the practice of paying salaries from the public treasury, and under Marcus Aurelius the government began to provide permanent endowments (of 1 The Adriatic may be taken as a convenient line of division (p. 182). ^ A river of Asia Minor. PLATE XXXV The Way of Tombs at Pompeii. — Each Roman city buried its dead out- side one of its gates along the highway, which therefore was lined for a great distance with marble monuments or the simpler raised headstones that are also shown in this picture. The ruins shown alongside the Appian Way (p. 166) are tombs and monuments. The disorders of later centuries destroyed most of these monuments in Italy, though we do still have many interesting inscriptions from them. At Pompeii the volcanic covering preserved them almost intact. A husband inscribes upon his wife’s monument : “ only once did she cause me sorrow ; and that was by her death.” Another praises in his wife “purity, loyalty, affection, a sense of duty, a gentle nature, and whatever other qualities God would wish to give woman.” The tombstone of a poor physician declares that “to all the needy he gave his services without charge.” See also pp. 226-7. PLATE XXXVI The Pantheon To-day: “Shrine of all saints and temple of all gods.” (Read the rest of Byron’s fine description in Canto IV of Childe Harold.) Agrippa, victor of Actium and chief minister of Augustus, built this temple in the Campus Martins ; and it was rebuilt, in its present form, by Hadrian — who, however, left the inscription in honor of Agrippa. The structure is 132 feet in diameter and of the same height, surmounted by a majestic dome that originally flashed with tiles of bronze. The interior is broadly flooded with light from an aperture in the dome 26 feet in diameter. The inside walls were formed of splendid columns of yellow marble, with gleaming white capitals supporting noble arches, upon which again rested more pillars and another row of arches — up to the base of the dome (see section opposite). Under the arches, in pillared recesses, stood the statues of the gods of all religions, for this grand temple was symbolic of the grander toleration and unity of the Roman world. Time has dealt gently with it, and almost alone of the buildings of its day it has lasted to ours, to be used now as a Christian church. ART AND LEARNING 225 which only the income could be used each year), as we do for our universities. The leading subjects were Latin and Greek literature, rhetoric, philosophy, music, arithmetic,^ geometry, and astronomy} Law was a specialty at Rome, and medicine at Alexandria. Every important city in the Empire had its well-equipped grammar school, corresponding to an advanced high school or small college; and like the universities, to which they led, they had permanent endowments from the Roman government. All this education was for the upper classes, but occasionally bright boys from the lower classes found some wealthy patron Cross-section of the Pantheon. to send them to a good school, and rich men and women some- times bequeathed money to schools in their home cities for the education of poor children. Davis’ Readings (II, No. 80) tells of such an endowment, and (No. 79) repeats Horace’s story of how his father, a poor farmer, gave him the education that made it possible for him to become one of the most famous of poets. ^ Arithmetic was an advanced subject when Roman numerals were used. ^ The first three subjects, the literary group, were the trivium; the last four, the mathematical group, were the quadrivium. Schools for the poor 226 EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE — TO 180 A.D. Literature Morals under the Empire Literature played a small part in Roman life until just before the Empire. The following lists of names for the four periods, down to Marcus Amelius, are for reference only. 1. The "Age of Cicero,” gave us Lucretius, perhaps the most sublime of all Latin poets, and Caesar’s concise historical narrative. Cicero himself remains the foremost orator of Rome and the chief master of the graceful Latin prose essay. 2. For the "Augustan Age” only a few of the many important writers can be mentioned. Horace (son of an Apulian freedman) wrote graceful odes and playful satires. Vergil (from Cisalpine Gaul), the chief Roman poet, is best known to schoolboys by his epic, the Aeneid, but critics rank higher his Georgies, exquisite poems of country life. Liv'y (Cisalpine Gaul) and Dionysius (an Asiatic Greek) wrote great histories of Rome. Strabo (living at Alexandria) produced a geography of the Roman world, and speculated on the possibility of a continent in the Atlantic between Europe and Asia. The last two authors wrote in Greek. 3. To the second half of the first century belong another host of great names : among them, Pliny the Elder {of Cisalpine Gaul), a scien- tist who perished at the eruption of Vesuvius in his zeal to observe the phenomena; the Stoic philosophers Epictetus, a Phrygian slave, and Seneca, a noble of Spanish birth. 4. For the second century, we have the charming Letters of Pliny the Younger, a Cisalpine Gaul ; the satirical poetry of the Italian Juvenal; the philosophical and religious Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius; the histories and biographies {in Greek) of Appian, an Alexandrian, of Plutarch, a Boeotian, and (in Latin) of the Roman Tacitus. Science is represented chiefly by Galen, an Asiatic, who wrote Greek treatises on medicine, and by Ptolemy, an Egyptian astronomer, whose geog- raphy was the standard authority until the time of Columbus. (Ptol- emy unhappily abandoned the truer teachings of Aristarchus and Eratosthenes (p. 146), and taught that the heavens revolved about the earth for their center.) Under the Empire morals grew gentle, and manners were refined. The Letters of Pliny reveal a society high-minded, polite, and virtuous. Pliny himself is a type of the finest gentleman of to-day in delicacy of feeling, sensitive honor, and genial courtesy. Marcus Aurelius shows like qualities on the throne. The philosopher Epictetus shows them in a slave. Fu' neral inscriptions show tender affection. Over the grave of a little girl there is inscribed, — “ She rests here in the soft cradle of the Earth . . . comely, charming, keen of mind, gay in talk MORALS 227 and play. If there be ought of compassion in the gods, bear her aloft to the light.” In the Thoughts ^ of Marcus Aurelius the emperor thanks the gods “ for a good grandfather, good parents, a good sister, and good friends,” and (stating his obligations to various associates), — “From my mother I learned piety, and to abstain not merely from evil deeds but from evil thoughts.” Again a jotting in camp (on the borders of Germany) reads, — “ When thou wishest to delight thyself think of the virtues of those who live with thee.” Sympathies broadened. The unity of the vast Roman world prepared the way for a feeling of human brotherhood. Said Marcus Aurelius, “ As emperor I am a Roman ; but as a man my city is the world.’ The age prided itself, justly, upon its progress and its humanity, much as our own does. The Emperor Trajan instructed a provincial governor not to act upon anonymous accusations, because such conduct “does not belong to our age” There was a vast amount of private and public charity, with homes for orphans and hospitals for the poor. Woman, too, won more freedom than she was to find again until after 1850 A.D. The profession of medicine was open to her, and law recognized her as the equal of man. This broad humanity was reflected in imperial law. The harsh law of the Republic became humane. Women, children, 1 One of the world’s noblest books, closer to the spirit of Christ than any other pagan writing. Davis’ Readings gives some excellent extracts. Broader human sympathies More hu- mane law 228 EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE — TO 180 A.D. and even dumb beasts shared its protection. Torture was limited. The rights of the accused were better recognized. From the Empire dates the maxim, “Better to let the guilty escape than to punish the innocent.” “ All men by the law of nature are equal ” became a law maxim, through the great jurist Ulpian. Slavery, he argued, had been created only by the lower law, enacted not by nature but by man. Therefore, if one man claimed another as his slave, the benefit of any possible doubt was to be given to the one so claimed?; (It is curious to remember that the rule was just the other way in nearly all Christian countries through the Middle Ages, and in the United States under the Fugitive Slave laws from 1793 to the Civil War.) The dark True, there was a darker side. During some reigns the court was rank with hideous debauchery, and at all times the rabble of Rome, made up of the off-scourings of all peoples, was ignorant and vicious. Some evil customs that shock us were part of the age. To avoid cost and trouble, the lower classes, with horrible frequency and indifference, exposed their infants to die. Satirists, as in our own day, railed at the growth of divorce among the rich. Slavery threw its shadow across the Roman world. At the gladiatorial sports — so strong is fashion — delicate ladies thronged the benches of the amphitheater with- out shrinking at the agonies of the dying. For Further Reading. — Davis’ Readings, II, to No. 108. For those who wish to read further on this important period, the best and most readable material will be found in Jones’ Roman Empire (an ex- cellent one-volume work), chs. i-vi ; Cerpes’ Early Empire and The Antonines; Thomas’ Roman Life; Preston and Dodge’s Private Life of the Romans; or Johnston’s Private Life of the Romans. PLATE XXXVII Above. — The Colosseum {Flavian Amphitheater) at Rome, built by Ves- pasian and Titus. It covers six acres, and the walls rise 150 feet. It seated 45,000 spectators. For centuries, in the Middle Ages, its ruins were used as a stone quarry for palaces of Roman nobles, but its huge size pre- vented complete destruction. Cf. page 208, and Plate XXXIX. Below. — Interior View of the Colosseum. The human figures in the arena give some idea of the size of the building. PLATE XXXVIII Trajan’s Triumphal Arch at Beneventum in South Italy, commem- orating his victories ia the East (cf. p. 217). CHAPTER XXVI THE LATER EMPIRE The hopeless feature of the Roman Empire was the absence of liberty. The Roman world, in the first two centuries, was happy, contented, prosperous, and well-governed, but not free. Even its virtues had something of a servile tone. More- over, throughout the provinces, as in Italy earlier, great land- lords were crowding the small farmers off the land, and that yeoman class were giving way to slave or serf tillers of the soil. And so the third century began a period of swift decline. For a time despotism had served as a medicine for anarchy (p. 206), but now its poison began to show. Weak or vicious rulers followed one another in ruinous succession. The throne be- came the sport of the soldiery. Ninety-two years (193-284 A.D.) saw twenty-sewn “barrack emperors'^ set up by the army. All but four of these were slain in some revolt, and two of those four fell in battle against invading barbarians. Happily, the army wearied of disorder, and in 270 it set a great leader upon the throne. Aurelian was an Illyrian peasant who had risen from the ranks. He ruled only five years, but his aclnevements rival those of the five yeaj-s of the first Caesar. He reorganized the army and restored the boundaries, driving back the barbarians beyond the Danube and the Rhine, but abandoning Dacia (beyond the Danube) to the Teutonic Goths. Zenobia, the great queen who had set up a rival Arabian empire at Palmyra, he brought captive to Rome and he recovered Gaul, which some time before had broken away into a separate kingdom. At one moment in this busy reign, the Alemanni penetrated to the Po, and threw Italy into a panic. No hostile army had been seen in that peninsula since Hannibal — for almost five hundred years — and the proud capital had spread out 229 Decline in the third century Aurelian, 270-275 230 ROMAN EMPIRE — THIRD CENTURY Reorgan- ization by Diocletian, 284-305 unguarded far beyond her early ramparts. Aurelian repulsed the invaders and then built new walls about Rome, — a somber symbol of a new age. 3. Arch of Titus. 4. Via Sacra. 5. Via Nova. 6. Vicus Tuscus. 7. Vicus Jugarius. 14. 8. Arch of Septimius 15. Severus. 9. Clivus Capitolinus. 11. Arch. 21. 12. Column of Trajan. 22. 13. Column of Anto- 23. ninus. 24. Baths of Agrippa. 25. Pantheon. 26. 16. Theater of Pompey. 27. 17. Portico of Pompey. 28. 18. Circus Flaminius. Forum Boarium. Mausoleum of Augustus Mausoleum of Hadrian. Baths of Constantine. Baths of Diocletian. Baths of Titus. Baths of Caracalla. Amphitheatrum Cas- trense. Just as Aurelian was ready to take up internal reorganization, death snatched him away, and the task fell to his first strong successor, Diocletian, grandson of an Illyrian slave. For more “BARRACK EMPERORS” 231 convenient administration, this ruler divided the Roman world into an East and a West, along the dividing lines between the old Greek and Latin civilizations ; and each half he subdivided again and again into units of several grades — praefectures, dioceses, provinces. To care for these divisions, he then created a series of officers in regular grades, as in an army. Each was placed under the immediate direction of the one just above him, and the lines all converged from below to the emperor. Each official sifted all business that came to him from his sub- ordinates, and sent on to his superior only the more important matters. The earlier, loosely organized despotism had become a vast centralized despotism, a highly complex machine, which fixed re- sponsibility precisely and distributed duties in a workable way. Despotism was now avowed. Diocletian cast off the Repub- lican cloak of Augustus and adopted even the forms of Oriental monarchy. He wore a diadem of gems and robes of silk and gold, and fenced himself with multitudes of functionaries and elaborate ceremonial. The highest nobles, if allowed to ap- proach him, had to prostrate themselves at his feet. And the change was in more than form. The Senate became merely a city council for Rome : its advice was no longer asked in lawmaking. The emperor made laws by publishing edicts, or by sending a rescript (set of directions) to provincial governors. (The only other source of new law lay in the interpretation of old law by judges appointed by the emperor.) It is desirable for students to discuss fully these forms of government. “Absolutism” refers to the source of power: in an absolute monarchy, supreme power is in the hands of one person. “Centralization” refers to the kind of adminis- tration. A centralized administration is one carried on by officials of many grades, all appointed from above. Absolutism and centralization do not necessarily go together. A government may come from the people, and yet rule through a centralized administration, as in France to-day. It may be absolute, and yet allow much freedom to local agencies, as in Russia in past centuries. Excursus ; “ Central- ization ” and “Abso= lutism ” 232 ROMAN EMPIRE — FOURTH CENTURY Crushing weight of the bureau- cratic despotism Decline of population : slavery Under a Napoleon or a Diocletian, a centralized govern- ment may produce rapid benefits. But it does nothing to educate the people politically. Local self-government is often provokingly slow, but it is surer in the long run. The fourth century showed outward prosperity, but this appearance was deceitful. The system of Diocletian warded off invasion: but its oivn weight was crushing. The Empire had become “ a great tax-gathering and barbarian-fighting machine. It collected taxes in order to fight barbarians. But the time came when people feared the tax-collector more than the bar- barians, as the complex government came to cost more and more. About 400 a.d., the Empire began to crumble before barbarian attacks less formidable than many that had been rebuffed in early centuries. Secret forces had been sapping the strength and health of the Roman world. 1. For the century following the pestilence of Marcus Aurelius’ reign, a series of terrible Asiatic plagues swept off vast numbers ; but population had already begun to decline. The main cause of this decay, probably, was the widespread slave system. The wealthy classes of society do not have large families. Our population to-day grows mainly from the working class. But in the Roman Empire the place of free workingmen was taken mainly by slaves. Slaves rarely had families ; and if they had, the master commonly “ exposed ” slave children to die, since it was easier and cheaper to buy a new slave, from among captive barbarians, than to rear one. Besides, the competition of slave labor ground into the dust what free labor there was ; so that free working people could not afford to raise large families, but were driven to the cruel practice of exposing their infants. Year after year, “the human har- vest was bad.” 2. The pernicious alliance between the money power and the government had grown closer. True, Diocletian for a time sought to break it, charging that the ruinous rise in the cost of living was due to combinations of capitalists to raise prices. He accused such combinations of “raging avarice” PLATE XXXIX Roman Amphitheater at Nimes- - Another Ulustration of the fact that every Roman city made lavish provision for “games. SWIFT DECAY 233 and “unbridled desire for plunder,” and, in a vain attempt to check the evil, he tried to fix by edict the highest price it should be lawful to ask for each of some eight hundred articles of daily use. Such an effort (in that day at least) was doomed to fail. But it was the only effort of the government (after Caesar’s time) to interfere on the side of the poor. No serious attempt was made, after the early days of the Empire, to build up a new free peasantry by giving farms to the unemployed millions of the cities, as Gracchus and Caesar had tried to do. The noble landlords who shared among themselves the wide domains of Africa, Gaul, and Spain would have fought fiercely any attempt by the government to recover part of their domains to make homes for free settlers. But there is another side to the question. In the days of Gracchus and of Caesar, the city mob was made up, in good part, of ex-farmers, or of their sons, who had been driven from the land against their will. But long before Diocletian’s day, the rabble of Rome or Alexandria had lost all touch with country life. Sure of free doles of grain, sleeping in gateways, perhaps, but spending their days in the splendid free public baths or in the terrible fascination of gladiatorial games or of the chariot races, they could no longer be drawn to the simple life and hard labor of the farm — even if farming had continued profitable. We know that to-day, in America, hundreds of thousands of stalwart men prefer want and misery on the crowded sidewalks and under the white blaze of city lights, with a^ chance to squan- der a rare dime on “ the movies,” to the monotony and lone- liness of a comfortable living in the country. So in the ancient world, it was probably too late, when the Empire came, to wean the mob from its city life. 3. The classes of society were becoming fixed. At the top was the emperor. At the bottom were peasantry, artisans, and slaves, to produce food and wealth wherewith to pay taxes. Between were two aristocracies, — a small imperial nobility of great landlords, and an inferior local nobility in each city. The landlord nobles had many special privileges. Through their influence upon the government and by bribery of officials No serious “ back-to- the-land ” movement Approach to a caste system 234 LATER ROMAN EMPIRE “ Privi- lege ” of the great lords The smaller nobility The old middle class disappeared The artisans they escaped most of the burden of taxation — which they were better able to bear than the unhappy classes that paid. The local nobility (curials) were the families of the senate class in their respective cities. They, too, had some special privileges. They could not be drafted into the army or sub- jected to bodily punishment. They were compelled, however, to undergo great expenses in connection with the of- fices they had to fill. And, in particular, they were made responsible for the collection of the imperial taxes in their districts. This burden finally be- came so crushing that many curials tried desper- ately to evade it, — even by sinking into a lower class, or by flight to the barbarians. Then, to secure the revenue, law made them an hereditary class. They were forbidden to become clergy, soldiers, or lawyers ; they were not allowed to move from one city to another, or even to travel without per- mission. Between these local nobles and the artisan class, there had been, in the day of the Early Empire, a much larger middle class of small land-owners, merchants, bankers, and professional men. This middle class had now almost disappeared. Some were compelled by law to take up the duties of the vanishing curials. More, in the financial ruin of the period, sank into the working class. The condition of artisans had become desperate. An edict of Diocletian’s regarding prices and wages shows that a work- man received not more than one tenth the wages of an Ameri- DEARTH OF MEN AND MONEY 235 can workman of like grade, while food and clothing cost at least one third as much as in our time. His family rarely knew the taste of eggs or fresh meat. And now the law forbade him to change his trade. The 'peasantry had become serfs. That is, they were bound to their labor on the soil, and changed masters with the land they tilled. When the Empire began, the system of great estates, which had blighted Italy earlier, had begun also to curse the provinces. Free labor disappeared before slave labor ; grain culture decreased, and large areas of land ceased to be tilled. To help remedy this state of affairs, and to keep up the food supply, the emperors introduced a new class of heredi- tary farm laborers. After successful wars, they gave large num- bers of barbarian captives to great landlords, — thousands in a batch, — not as slaves, but as serfs. The serfs were not personal property, as slaves were. They were part of the real estate. They, and their children after them, were attached to the soil, and could not be sold off it ; nor could it be taken from them so long as they paid the land- lord a fixed rent in labor and produce. This growth of serfdom made it still more difficult for the free small-farmer to hold his place. That class more and more sank into serfs. On the other hand, many slaves rose into serfdom. 4. A fourth great evil was the lack of money. The Empire did not have sufficient supplies of precious metals for the de- mands of business ; and what money there was v/as steadily drained away to India and the distant Orient (p. 222). Even the imperial officers were forced to take part of their salaries in produce, — robes, horses, grain. Trade began to go back to the primitive form of barter ; and it became harder and harder to collect taxes. 5. Only one measure helped fill up the gaps in population. This was the introduction of barbarians from without. The Roman army had long been mostly made up of Germans ; and (beside the captive colonies) conquered barbarians had been settled, hundreds of thousands at a time, in frontier prov- Farm labor grows into serfdom Lack of money Peaceful infusion of bar- barians 236 LATER ROMAN EMPIRE inces, while whole friendly tribes had been admitted peacefully into depopulated districts. But all this had a danger of its own. True the Germans so admitted took on Roman civili- zation ; but they kept up some feeling for their kindred beyond the Rhine. The harrier between the civilized world and its as- sailants was melting away. Body-guard op Marcus Aurelius, made up of Germans- — From Aurelius’ Triumphal Arch. The Empire In the third and fourth centuries there were no more great poets or men of letters. Learning and patriotism both declined. Society began to fall into rigid castes, — the serf bound to his spot of land, the artisan to his trade, the curial to his office. Freedom of movement was lost. To the last, the legions were strong in discipline and pride, and ready to meet any odds. But more and more there was dearth of money and dearth oj men to fill the legions or to pay them. The Empire had become a shell. For five hundred years, outside barbarians had been tossing wildly about the great natural walls of the civilized world. Sometimes they had broken in for a moment, but always to be destroyed by some Marius, Caesar, Aurelius, or Aurelian. In the fifth century they broke in to stay — but not until the Roman world had become Christian. For Further Reading. — Davis’ Readings, II, Nos. 109-119. Additional : Pelham’s Outlines, 577-586. no longer able to resist outside barbarians CHAPTER XXVII THE VICTORY OF CHRISTIANITY The first Roman writer to make any definite mention of the Christians is Tacitus, in 115 a.d. ; and it is plain that (like all fashionable Roman society much later) he had heard only misleading slander of them, for he refers to them merely as “haters of the human race” and practicers of a “pernicious superstition,” But from the Book of Acts we know that at least fifty years earlier there were Christian congregations among the poor in nearly all the large cities of the eastern part of the Empire. The religion of mercy and gentleness and hope appealed first to the weak and downtrodden. For three centuries Roman society and government despised the sect of Christians, and often per secutedHiem ; but still the gentler spirit of the age, and its idea of human brotherhood, and especially the unity of the world under one government and one culture, prepared the way for the victory of the church. If Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy had remained split up in hun- dreds of petty states with varying languages and customs, Paul and other early missionaries could not so readily have made their way from city to city, or have been able to speak to their audiences. Four causes help to explain the persecutions. 1. Rom^ tol- erated and supported all religions ; but, in return, she expected all inhabitants of the Empire to tolerate and support the re- ligion of the Empire, including the worship of the emperors. The Christians alone refused to do this, proclaiming that all worship but their own was sinful. 2. Secret societies were feared and forbidden by the Empire, on political grounds. Even the enlightened Trajan instructed Pliny to forbid the organization of a firemen’s company in a 237 Roman so- ciety and the early Christians Causes of persecution Secret societies 238 RISE OF CHRISTIANITY “ Pacifists ” Slander Attitude of the govern- ment toward persecution large city of his province, because such associations were likely to become “factious assemblies.” But the church of that day was a vast, highly organized, widely diffused, secret society. 3. In the third place, the Christians kept apart from most public amusements, either because those amusements were immoral, like the “gladiatorial games,” or because they were connected with festivals to heathen gods. This made Christians seem unsocial. Also, because Christ had preached peace, many Christians refused to join the legions, or to fight, if drafted. This was near to treason, inasmuch as a prime duty of the Roman world was to repel barbarism. Some of these extreme “pacifists” and “conscientious objectors” irritated their neigh- bors by even refusing to illuminate their houses or garland their portals in honor of national triumphs. 4. Clean lives marked the early Christians, to a notable degree. Every sin was punished before the whole congregation. The church was a vast association for mutual helpfulness in pure living. Any member who was known to have worshiped pagan gods, or blasphemed, or borne false witness, was dis- missed from Christian fellowship. But, strangely enough, pagan society knew nothing of this side of the early church. The Jews accused the Christians of all sorts of crimes, and, partic- ularly, of horrible orgies in the secret “love-feasts” (communion suppers). If a child disappeared — lost or kidnapped by some slave-hunter — the rumor spread at once that it had been eaten by the Christians in their private feasts. Such accusations were accepted, carelessly, by Roman society, because the Chris- tian meetings were secret and because there had really been licentious rites in some religions from the East that Rome had been forced to crush. The first century, except for the horrors in Rome under Nero, afforded no persecution until its very close, and then only a slight one. Under Trajan we see spasmodic local perse- cutions, not instigated by the government. On the whole, during the second century, the Christians were legally subject to punishment ; but the law against them was rarely enforced. CONSTANTINE AND THEODOSIUS 239 Still it is well to remember that even then many noble men and women chose to die in torture rather than deny their faith. The third century was an age of anarchy and decay. The few able rulers strove strenuously to restore society to its an- cient order. One great obstacle to this restoration seemed to them to be this new religion, with its hostility to Roman patriotism. This century, accordingly, was an age of definitely planned persecution. But by this time Christianity was too strong, and had come to count nobles and rulers in its ranks. Triumphal Arch of Constantine at Rome, 312 a.d., commemorating the victory of Milvian Bridge. In 305, Diocletian abdicated the throne (in the midst of the most terrible of all persecutions of the Christians) ; and for eight years civil war raged between claimants for the imperial power, more than one of them bidding for the favor of the growing church. In 312 a.d. at the battle of the Milvian Bridge in north Italy the mastery of the world fell to Constan- tine the Great. Constantine’s father, while ruler in Britain and Gaul, had been distinctly favorable to the Christians, and on the eve of his decisive battle Constantine adopted the 240 THE VICTORY OF CHRISTIANITY Constantine makes Christianity a favored religion Causes and stages Edict of Milan, 313 A.D. Licinius attempts to restore paganism Cross as a symbol upon his standards. (See Davis’ Readings for the story of his dream.) The Christians still were less than one tenth the population of the Empire ; but they were energetic and enthusiastic ; they were massed in the great cities which held the keys to political power ; and they were admirably organized for united action. It is not likely that Constantine gave much thought to the truth of Christian doctrine, and we know that he did not prac- tice Christian virtues. (He put to death cruelly his wife and a son, and had a rival assassinated.) But he was wise enough to recognize the good policy of allying this rising power to himself against his rivals. He may have seen, also, in a broader and unselfish way, the folly of trying to restore the old pagan world, and have felt the need of establishing harmony between the government and this new power within the Empire, so as to utilize its strength instead of always combating it. So, in 313, a few months after Milvian Bridge, from his capital at Milan, Constantine issued the famous decree known as the Edict of Milan: “We grant to the Christians and to all others free choice to follow the mode of worship they may wish, in order that whatsoever divinity and celestial power may exist may be propitious to us and to all who live under our government.” This edict established religious toleration, and put an end forever to pagan persecution of the Christians. At a later time Constantine showed many favors to the church, granting money for its buildings, and exempting the clergy from taxa- tion (as was done with teachers in the schools). But, as head of the Roman state, he continued to make public sacrifices to the pagan gods. After ten years came a struggle between Constantine and a rival, Licinius, for power. This was also the final conflict between Christianity and paganism. The followers of the old faiths rallied around Licinius, and the victory of Constantine was accepted as a verdict in favor of Christianity. In 392, Theodosius the Great, who had already ruled for many years as emperor in the East, became sole emperor. He RISE OF HERESIES 241 \ the majority finally pre- vailed as the orthodox doc- trine, and the views of the minority became heresy — to be crushed out in blood, if need were. Most of the early here- sies arose from different opinions about the exact nature of Christ. Thus, back in Constantine’s time, Arius, a priest of Alexandria, taught that, while Christ was the divine Son of God, He was not equal to the Father. Athanasius, of the same city, asserted that Christ was not only divine and the Son of God, but that He and the Father were absolutely equal Constantine’s Triumphal Column at Constantinople — a beautiful piece of porphyry originally bearing the em- peror’s statue in bronze on its summit (until 1105 A.D.). Constantine removed the capital of the Empire from Rome to Byzantium, which he rebuilt with great magnificence and renamed Constanti- nople (“Constantine’s City ”). One of his motives, it is said, was to have a capital more easily Christianized than Rome with her old pagan glories. made Christianity the only State religion, prohibiting all pagan ^ worship on pain of death. In out-of-the-way corners of the Empire, paganism lived on for a century more ; but in the more settled districts zealous worshipers of Christ destroyed the old temples and some- times put to death the worshipers of the old gods and teachers of the old philosophical schools. Almost at once, too, the Christians began to use force to prevent differ- ences of opinion among themselves. When the leaders tried to state just what they believed about difficult points, some vio- lent disputes arose. In such cases the views of 1 Pagan is from a Latin word meaning rustic. In like manner, later, the Christianized Germans called the remaining adherents of the old worship heathens (“heath-dwellers”). Persecu- tions by the Christians Early heresies The Nicene Creed 242 EARLY CHRISTIANITY in all respects, — “of the same substance” and “co-eternal.” The struggle waxed fierce and divided Christendom into oppos- ing camps. But Constantine desired union in the church. (If it split into hostile fragments, his political reasons for favoring it would be gone.) Accordingly, in 325, he summoned all the principal clergy of the Empire to the first great council of the whole church, at Nicaea, in Asia Minor, and ordered them to come to agreement. Arius and Athanasius in person led the fierce debate. In the end the majority sided with Athanasius. His doctrine, summed up in the Nicene Creed, became the orthodox* creed of Christendom; and Arius and his followers (unless they recanted) were put to death or driven to seek refuge with the barbarians — many of whom they con- verted to Arian Christianity. The victory of Christianity no doubt was in part a com- promise, like every great change. Paganism reacted upon Christianity and made the church in some degree imperial and pagan. But there was immense gain. The new reli- gion mitigated slavery, built up a vast and beneficent system of charity, abolished the gladiatorial games and the “exposure” of infants, and lessened the terribly common practice of suicide — branding that act as one of the worst of crimes ; and it purified and strengthened the souls of hosts of common men and women. The fourth century, even more than the third, was a time of intellectual decay. There were no poets and no new science. PLATE XL Above. — Ruins of Constantine’s Basilica. Below. — Interior of the Same “Restored.” — The basilica (from a Greek word meaning the king’s judgment hall) became the favorite Roman form for law courts just before the Empire came in. When the Christians came to power, they adopted this type of building for their churches, and adapted many pagan structures for that purpose. Cf. Early Progress, p. 408. PLATE XLI Above. — Ruins of “the Palace of the Caesars” on the Palatine Hill, built by Tiberius and Caligula. Below. — A “ Restoration ” of the Palace of the Caesars, by Benvenuti. RISE OF HERESIES 243 while even the old were neglected. Pagan poetry, beautiful as it was, was filled with immoral stories of the old gods, and the Christians feared contamination from it (as the Puritans of the seventeenth century did from the plays of Shakespeare). The contempt for pagan science had less excuse. The spherical form of the earth was well known to the Greeks (p. 146), but the early Christians demolished the idea, asking, “If the earth be round, how can all men see Christ at his coming ?” The church was soon to become the mother and sole protector of a new learning, but it bears part of the blame for the loss of the old. Review Exercise 1. Add to the list of dates 180, 284, 325. 2. Extend list of terms for fact drill. 3. Memorize a characterization of the periods of the Empire; i.e. First and second centuries : peace, prosperity, good government. Third century : decline — material, political, intellectual. Fourth century : revival of imperial power ; victory of the Chris- tian church ; social and intellectual decline. Fifth and sixth (in advance) : barbarian conquest. Roman Coins of the Empire. — Many have been found in the Orient. Dislike and fear of pagan learning PAKT VI -EOMANO-TIUTONIC EUROPE 400-1500 The savage Teutons Government of village and tribe CHAPTER XXVIII MERGING OF ROMAN AND TEUTON, 378-800 A.D. I. FOUR CENTURIES OF CONFUSION East of the Rhine there had long roamed many “forest peoples,” whom the Romans called Germans, or Teutons. These barbarians were tall, huge of limb, white-skinned, flaxen-haired, with fierce blue eyes. To the short dark-skinned races of Roman Europe, they seemed tawny giants. The tribes nearest the Empire had taken on a little civilization, and had begun to form large combinations under the rule of kings. The more distant tribes were still savage and unorganized. In general, they were not far above the level of the better North American Indians in our colonial period. The government of the Teutons is described for us by the Roman historian Tacitus. A tribe lived in villages scattered in forests. The milage and the tribe each had its Assembly and its hereditary chief. The tribal chief, or king, was surrounded by his council of village chiefs. To quote Tacitus : “ On affairs of smaller moment, the chiefs consult ; on those of greater importance, the whole community. . . . They assemble on stated days, either at the new or full moon. When they all think fit, they sit down armed. . . . Then the king, or chief, and such others as are conspicuous for age, birth, military renown, or eloquence, are heard, and gain attention rather from their ability to persuade than their authority to command. If a proposal displease, the assembly reject it by an inarticulate murmur. If it prove agreeable, they clash their javelins; for the most honorable expression of assent among them is the sound of arms.” (Cf. early Greek organization.) 244 FOUR CENTURIES OF CONFUSION 245 The first Teutonic people to establish itself within the old Empire was the West Goths. These barbarians in 378 defeated and slew a Roman Emperor at Adrianople, almost under the walls of Constantinople, and then roamed and ravaged at will for a generation in the Balkan lands. In 4IO, they entered Italy and sacked Rome (just 800 years after the sack by the Gauls), and then moved west into Spain, where they found the Vandals — another Teuton race who had entered Spain through Gaul from across the Rhine. Driving the Vandals into Africa, the West Goths set up in Spain the first firm Teu- tonic kingdom. Meanwhile, other Teutons had begun to swarm across the Rhine. Finally, after frightful destruction, the East Goths established themselves in Italy ; the Burgundians, in the valley of the Rhone ; the Angles and Saxons, in Britain ; the Franks, in northern Gaul. This “wandering of the peoples” filled the fifth century and part of the sixth. These two terrible centuries brought on the stage also another new race, — the Slavs; and the opening of the following century brought Mohammedanism (pp. 253 ff .). But of these three forces, toe are concerned almost alone with the Teutons. Mohammedan- ism, as we shall see, seized swiftly upon all the old historic ground in Asia and Africa ; but these countries have had little touch since with our Western civilization. South of the Danube, Slavic tribes settled up almost to the walls of Constantinople, where the Roman Empire still maintained itself. Southeastern Europe became Slavic-Greek, just as Western Europe had be- come Teutonic-Roman. But, until very recently. Southeastern Europe has had little bearing upon the Western world. The two halves of Europe fell apart, with the Adriatic for the dividing line, — along the old cleavage between Latin and Greek civili- zations. In all the centuries since, human progress has come almost wholly from the Western Romano-Teutonic Europe — and from its recent offshoots. Invasion by the West Goths Other Teutonic invaders Slav Europe and Teu- tonic Europe The invasions brought overwhelming destruction upon this 246 WESTERN EUROPE, 400-800 A.D. The inva- sions over- throw the old civil- ization The “ Dark Ages,” 400-800 Survivals of Roman civilization in towns and in the church Western world, — the most complete catastrophe that ever befell a great civilized society. Civilization, it is true, had been declining before they began ; but they tremendously accelerated the movement, and prevented any revival of the old culture in the West. And when the invaders had entered into possession, and so ceased to destroy, two new causes of decline appeared ; (1) The new ruling classes were densely ignorant. They cared nothing for the survivals of literature and science. Few of them could read, or write even their names. Much of the old civili- zation was allowed to decay because they could not under- stand its use. (2) The language of everyday speech was grow- ing away from the literary language in which all the remains of the old knowledge were preserved. The language of learning became “dead.” It was known only to the clergy, and to most of them at this period very imperfectly. The fifth and sixth centuries brought the Teuton into the Roman world ; the seventh and eighth centuries fused Roman and Teuton elements into a new “Western Europe.” For the whole four hundred years of these “Dark Ages” (400-800), Europe remained a dreary scene of violence, lawlessness, and ignorance. The old Roman schools disappeared, and classical literature seemed to be extinct. There was no tranquil leisure, and therefore no study. There was little security, and there- fore little work. The Franks and Goths were learning the rudi- ments of civilized life; but the Latins were losing all but the rudiments — and they seemed to lose faster than the Teutons gained. But after all, the invasions did not uproot civilization. The conquests were made by small numbers, and, outside Britain, they did not greatly change the character of the population. The conquerors settled among ten or fifty times their own numbers. At first they were the rulers, and almost the only large land-owners. But the towns, so far as they survived, re- mained Roman, and, almost unnoticed by the ruling classes, they preserved some parts of the old culture and handicrafts. The old population, too, for a long time furnished all the clergy. XLII Tomb of Hadrian (locate on map, p. 230). When the Vandals from Africa (p. 245) sacked Rome (455 a.d.), this structure was used as a citadel, and the marble statues that originally crowned it were hurled down on the barbarians. In strange contrast with this ornate mausoleum are the simple and dainty lines Hadrian addressed to his soul as he felt death upon him : “Soul of mine, pretty one, flitting one, Guest and partner of my clay, Whither wilt thou hie away. Pallid one, rigid one, naked one, — Never to play again, never to play ? ” THE JUSTINIAN CODE 247 From this class — the sole possessors of the art of writing and keeping records — the Teutonic lords had to draw secretaries and confidential officers ; and by these advisers they were grad- ually persuaded to adopt many customs of the old civilization. Most important of all, the church itself lived on much in the old way. Necessarily it suffered somewhat in the general deg- radation of the age ; but, on the whole, it protected the weak, and stood for peace, industry, and right living. In the darkest A Roman Temple as It Survives To-day in Nimes in Southern France (Maison Carree). of those dark centuries there were great numbers of priests and monks inspired with zeal for righteousness and lovfe for men. The preservation of Roman law we owe mainly to a source outside Western Europe. The Roman Empire lived on in part of Eastern Europe and in Asia, with its capital at Constantinople. Cut off from Latin Europe, that Empire now grew more and more Greek and Oriental, and after 500 a.d. we usually speak of it as “the Greek Empire.” In the sixth century, after long decline, the Empire fell for a time to a capable ruler, Justinian the Great (527-565), whose most famous work was a codification of the Roman law. In The “ Greek Empire ” The Justinian Code 248 WESTERN EUROPE, 400-800 A.D. Lombards and Greeks in Italy Teutonic law the course of centuries, that law had become an intolerable maze. Now a commission of able lawyers put the whole mass into a new form, marvelously compact, clear, and orderly. Justinian also reconquered Italy for the Empire, and so the code was established in that land. Thence, through the church, and some centuries later through a new class of lawyers, it spread over the West. Justinian’s conquest of Italy had another result less happy. His generals destroyed a promising kingdom of the East Goths in Italy. Then (568), immediately after the great emperor’s death, a new German people, the savage Lombards, swarmed into the peninsula. Their chief kingdom was in the Po valley, which we still call Lombardy; but various Lombard “dukedoms” were scat- tered also in other parts. The Empire kept (1) the “Exarchate of Ravenna” on the Adriatic ; (2) Rome, with a little territory about it; and (3) the extreme south. Thus Italy, the middle land for which Roman and Teuton had struggled, was at last divided between them and shattered into fragments in the process. When the barbarians came into the Empire, their law was only unwritten custom. Much of it remained so, especially in Britain. But, under Roman influence, the conquerors soon put parts of their law into written codes. Two common features of these codes throw interesting sidelights on the times. 1. Offenses were atoned for by money-payments, varying from a small amount for cutting off the joint of a finger, to the wergeld (man-money), or payment for taking a man ’s life. 2. When a man wished to prove himself innocent, or another man guilty, he did not try to bring evidence, as we do. Proof consisted in an appeal to God to show the right. Thus in the trial by compurgation, the accuser and accused swore solemnly to their statements, and each was backed by “compurgators,” — not witnesses, but persons who swore they A Silver Coin op Justinian. ( \ |d»tO fl.flTn.fl.1T «nnt.hftT»Ti fl.n i a. j i TEUTONIC CODES OF LAW 249 believed their man was telling the truth. To swear falsely was to invite the divine vengeance, as in the boyish survival, — “ Cross my heart and hope to die.” In trial hy ordeal, the accused tried to clear him- self by being thrown bound into water. Or he plunged his arm into boiling water, or carried red-hot iron a certain distance ; and if his flesh was uninjured, when examined some days later, he was declared innocent. All these ordeals were un- der the charge of the Trial by Combat — the religious prelimi- clergy and were preceded nary. Each champion is making oath _ . of the justice of his cause. From a fif- by sacred exercises, ouch teenth-century manuscript. tests could be made, too, by deputy : hence our phrase to “ go through fire and water” for a friend. Among the fighting class, the favorite trial came to be the trial by combat, — a judicial duel in which God was expected to “show the right.” The Teutons introduced once more a system of groidng law. Codification preserved the Roman law, but crystallized it. Teu- tonic law, despite its codes, remained for a long time crude and unsystematic ; but it contained possibili- ties of further growth. The Trial by Combat — companion piece to the preceding cut. Trial by ordeal Growing law 2oO WESTERN EUROPE, 400-800 A.D. The conquest modifies Teutonic institutions importance of this fact has been felt mainly in the English “Common Law,” the basis of our American legal system. The conquest modified the political institutions of the con- querors in many ways. Three changes 'call for attention. 1. The Teutonic kings became more absolute. At first they were little more than especially honored military chiefs, at the head of rude democraeies. In the conquests, they secured large shares of confiscated land, so that they could reward their supporters and build up a strong personal following. More- Seventh Century Villa (in wood) in North Gaul, as “ restored ” by Par- mentier. The palisades inclose, it will be noticed, not only the dwellings for the human inhabitants (with a lofty watch tower) , but also vegetable gardens and extensive barns for cattle. over, the Roman idea of absolute power in the head of the state had its influence. (With all its excellences, the Roman law was imbued with the prineiple of despotism. A favorite maxim was, — “ What the prince wills has the force of law.”) 2. A new nobility of service appeared. The king rewarded his most trusted followers with grants of lands, and made them rulers (counts and dukes) over large districts. 3. The assemblies of freemen decreased in importance. They EVERYDAY LIFE 251 survived in England as occasional “Folkmoots,” and in the Frankish kingdom as “ Mayfields” ; but they shrank into gath- erings of nobles and officials. Everyday life in the seventh century was harsh and mean. Life in The Teutonic conquerors disliked the close streets of a Roman Western Europe, town ; but the villa, the residence of a Roman country gentle- 700 A.D, man, was the Roman institution which they could most nearly appreciate. The new Teutonic kings (and their nobles also) lived not in town palaces, but in rude but spacious wooden dwellings on extensive farmsteads in the midst of forests. Population had shrunken terribly, even since the worst times Population of the Roman Empire. In the north, most towns had been shrunken destroyed. Those that were rebuilt (on a small scale), sur- rounded by rude palisades, were valued chiefly for refuge, and for convenient nearness to a church or cathedral. (In the south, it is true, the old cities lived on, with a considerable degree of the old Roman city life.) Everywhere, the great majority of the people were the Life of the poor folk who tilled the land for neighboring masters. Most of these toilers lived in mud hovels, or in cabins of rough boards, without floors and with roofs covered with reeds or straw. At the best, little more of their produce remained to them than barely enough to support life ; they were con- stantly subject to the arbitrary will of rough masters ; and at frequent intervals they suffered terribly from pestilence and famine. In the old East, holiness was believed to be related to with- Monasti- drawal from the world and to disregard for pleasure and for natural instincts, even love for mother, wife, and child. This unnatural tendency invaded Eastern Christianity, and, in the Egyptian and Syrian deserts, there arose a class of tens of thou- sands of Christian hermits, who strove each to save his own soul by tormenting his body. In some cases these fugitives from society united into small societies with common rules of life ; and in the latter part of the fourth century the idea of religious communities was trans- 252 WESTERN EUROPE, 400-800 A.D. Rise of the Franks planted to the West, where the long anarchy following the in- vasions made such a life peculiarly inviting. European monasticism, however, differed widely from its model in the East. The monks of the West, within their quiet walls, wisely sought escape from temptation, not in idle- ness, but in active and in- cessant work. Their motto was, “To work is to pray.” In the seventh century, the ma- jority of cultured and refined men and women in Western Europe lived within monastic walls. Monks did not go out into the world to save it ; but their doors were open to all who came for help. For cen- turies of violence and brutal- ity, the thousands of monas- teries that dotted Western Eu- rope were the only almhouses, inns, asylums, hospitals, and schools, and the sole refuge of learning. II. FRANKS, MOHAMMEDANS, AND POPES During the two centuries of fusion (p. 246), two organizing powers grew up in Europe — the Frankish state and the Papacy ; and one great danger appeared — Mohammedanism. The growth of the Frankish state was due mainly to Clovis, a ferocious and treacherous Teutonic savage of shrewd intellect. In 481, Clovis became king of one of the several little tribes of Franks on the lower Rhine. Fifty years later, thanks to a long- continued policy of war, assassination, and perfidy, his sons ruled an empire comprising nearly all modern France, the Neth- erlands, and much of western Germany. This new Frankish empire remained for three centuries not The Abbey op Citeaux. — From a miniature in a twelfth century manuscript. {Abbey is the name for a large monastery.) Note the grain fields in the background, which were largely cultivated by the monks themselves. CLOVIS AND THE FRANKS 253 only the greatest power in Western Europe hut practically the only power. The Gothic state in Spain was in decay. Italy was in fragments. England (Britain) remained a medley of small warring states (p. 268). Germany, east of the Frankish empire, held only savage and unorganized tribes. For two of these centuries the family of Clovis kept the throne, — a story of greed, treachery, and murder, and, toward the end, of dismal, swinish indolence. The last of these kings were mere phantom rulers, known as “Do-nothings,” and all real power was held by a mayor of the palace. The empire of the Franks seemed about to dissolve in anarchy. Especially did German Bavaria and Roman Aquitaine attempt complete independence under native dukes. But about the year 700 a great mayor, Charles, known as Martel (“the Hammer”), by crushing blows right and left began to restore union and order. And none too soon. For the Mohammedans now attacked Europe. Except for Martel’s long pounding, there would have been no Christian power able to withstand their onset — and Englishmen and Americans to-day might be readers of the Mohammedan Koran instead of the Christian Bible. A century after Clovis built up the empire of the Franks, a better man, out of less promising material, built a mighty power in Arabia. Until that time, Arabia had had little to do with human progress. It was mainly desert, with strips of tillable land near the Red Sea, — where also there were a few small cities. Elsewhere the Arabs were wandering shepherds, — poor and ignorant, dwelling in black camel’s hair tents, living from their sheep and by robbing their neighbors, and worshiping sticks and stones. The inspiring force that was to lift them to a higher life, and fuse them into a world-conquering nation, was the fiery enthusiasm of Mohammed. Mohammed was born at Mecca about 570. He never learned to read ; but his speech was forceful, and his manner pleasing and stately. He was given to occasional periods of religious ecstasy, praying alone in the desert for days at a time (as in- deed many Arabs did) ; and in such a lonely vigil, when he was The “ Do- nothing ” kings The Frankish state re- united by Martel Arabia before Mohammed Moham- med, 570-632 254 WESTERN EUROPE, 400-800 A.D, Moral teachings of Mohammed The Hegira, 622 A.D. Mohammed makes con- verts by the sword Rapid growth of the faith The Saracens attack Europe a respected merchant forty years old, God appeared to him (he said) in a wondrous vision, revealing to him a higher religion. The Koran (see extracts in Ogg’s Source Book), the “sacred book” made up of his teachings, taught a higher morality than the Arabs had known (much of it similar to Jewish teachings, with which he had become acquainted in his travels as a mer- chant) ; but it accepted also certain evil customs of the time, such as slavery and polygamy. For twelve years the new faith grew slowly. A fev/ friends accepted Mohammed at once as a prophet ; but the bulk of his fellow townsfolk jeered at the claim, and when he con- tinued to order them to put away their stone idols, they drove him from Mecca. This flight is “the Hegira” (622 a.d.). But Mohammed converted the tribes of the desert, and then took up the sword. - His fierce warriors proved themselves almost irresistible, conquering many a time against overwhelm- ing odds. They felt sure that to every man there was an ap- pointed time of death, which he could neither delay nor hasten, and they rejoiced in death in battle as the surest admission to the joys of Paradise. Before his death, ten years after the Hegira, Mohammed was master of all Arabia. Eighty years later, his followers stood victorious upon the Oxus, the Indus, the Black Sea, the Atlantic, — rulers of a realm more extensive than that of Rome at its height. Within the span of one human life, the Moham- medans had won all the old Asiatic empire of Alexander the Great, and all North Africa besides ; and drawing together the sweeping horns of their mighty crescent, they were already trying to enter Europe from both east and west across the narrow straits of the Hellespont and Gibraltar. The most formidable attacks wore themselves away (672 and 717) about the walls of the City of Constantine; but in 711 the Arabs did enter Spain and were soon masters of that penin- sula, except for remote mountain fastnesses. Then, pouring across the Pyrenees, the Mohammedan flood spread over Gaul to the Loire. Now, indeed, it “seemed that the crescent was about to round to the full.” PLATE XLIII Above. — The Damascus Gate in the Walls of Jerusalem To-day — as rebuilt by the Saracens after their conquest in the seventh century. Below. — A View op Jerusalem To-day from Mt. Scopus where Titus encamped when he besieged the city (p. 215). The Saracenic walls, of which one gate is shown above, can be clearly seen. After the Arab con- quest the city remained in Mohammedan hands, except for about one hundred years during the Crusades (pp. 294-297), until the closing days of the World War. PLATE XLIV The Court op Lions in the Palace of Alhambra at Granada, Spain. THE MOHAMMEDAN PERIL 255 But the danger completed the reunion of the Frankish state. The duke of Aquitaine, long in revolt against Frankish rule, fled to the camp of Charles Martel for aid against the Moham- medan ; and, in 732, in the plains near Tours, the “ Hammer of the Franks” with his close array of mailed infantry met the Arab host. From dawn to dark, on a Saturday in October, the gallant, turbaned horsemen of the Saracens hurled them- selves in vain against the Franks’ stern wall of iron. At night the surviving Arabs stole silently from their camp and fled back behind the shelter of the Pyrenees. This Battle of Tours, just one hundred years after Moham- med’s death, is the high-water mark of the Saracen invasion. A few years later, the Mohammedan world, like Christendom, ?plit into rival empires, and the critical danger to Western civili- zation for the time passed away. The Frankish state had saved Europe from Africa. Next it allied to itself the papacy. We must now trace the rise of that power. As the first Christian missionaries spread out beyond Judea and came to a new province, they naturally went first to the chief city there. Thus the capital of the province became the seat of the first church in the district. From this mother so- ciety, churches spread to the other cities of the province, and from each city there sprouted outlying parishes. At the head of each parish was a priest (assisted usually by deacons and subdeacons to care for the poor). The head of a city church was a bishop (overseer), with supervision over the rural churches of the neighborhood. The bishop of the mother church in the capital city exercised great authority over the other bishops of the province. He became known as archbishop or metropolitan; and it became customary for him to summon the other bishops to a central council. The more powerful of these archbishops (known as patriarchs) gradually won authority over others; and by the fourth cen- tury all the East was divided among the four patriarchates of Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Constantinople, while Battle of Tours, 732 A.D. Claims of the Roman papacy to headship 256 WESTERN EUROPE, 400-800 A.D. Rome’s advantages in the Western church The “Great Schism ” leaves Rome mistress in the Western chmch all the West came under the authority of the bishop of Rome. Very early the last of these had put forth a vigorous claim — as spiritual successor to St. Peter, alleged founder of the church at Rome — to supremacy over all the Christian church. Rome had advantages that helped to make good this claim. (1) Men thought of Rome as the world-capital. (2) The Latin half of the Empire had no other church founded by an Apostle ; nor did it contain any other great city : Rome ’s rivals were all east of the Adriatic. (3) The decline of the Roman Empire in the West, after the barbarian invasions, left the pope ^ less liable to interference from the imperial government than the Eastern bishops were. (4) A long line of remarkable popes, by their wise statesmanship and their missionary zeal, confirmed the position of Rome as head of the Western churches. Even in the West, however, until about 700 a.d., most men looked upon the bishop of Rome only as one among five great patriarchs, though the most loved and trusted one. But in the eighth century Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Antioch fell to the Saracens ; and, soon afterward, remaining Christendom split into rival Latin and Greek churches, grouped respectively around Rome and Constantinople. This “Great Schism” followed the ancient lines of partition between the Latin and Greek cultures; but the occasion for actual separation was a dispute over the use of images (the “icono- clast,” or image-breaking, question). An influential party in the Greek Empire desired to abolish the use of images, which, they felt, the ignorant were apt to degrade from symbols into idols. A great reforming emperor, Leo the Isaurian, put him- self at the head of the movement, and ordered all images re- moved from the churches. The West believed in their use as aids to worship ; and the pope forbade obedience to the order of the emperor. The result was the separation of Christendom into two halves, never since united. This left Rome the unquestioned head of the Latin church, the spiritual lord of Western Europe. At the same time, too, 1 The name pope (“papa”) was at first only a term of affectionate respect (“father”). It did not become an official term until 1085. POPES AND FRANKS 257 the pope was growing into a tern poral ^ sovereign over a small state in Italy. In the break-up of that peninsula (p. 248), the imperial governor kept his eapital at Ravenna, safe amid the marshes of the Adriatic coast. Thus he was soon cut off, by Lombard states, from Rome, which with neighboring territory still be- longed to the Empire. Bishops always held considerable civil authority. This new condition left the bishop of Rome Cloisters of St. John Lateran. This church stands on the site of the first papal church. It adjoins the Lateran palace, the official residence of the popes until 1377. the only lieutenant of the Empire in his isolated district ; and the difficulty of communication with Constantinople (and the weakness of the emperors) made him in practice an independent ruler. After the split between Greek and Latin churches, this independence was openly avowed. At once, however, the new papal state was threatened with conquest by the neighboring Lombards, who already had seized 1 Temporal, in this sense, is used to apply to matters of this world, in contrast to the spiritual matters of the world eternal. The pope becomes a temporal prince Popes and Lombards 258 WESTERN EUROPE, 400-800 A.D Alliance of Franks and papacy the Exarchate of Ravenna. The popes appealed to the Franks for aid against Lombard attack. The Frankish mayors needed papal sanction for their own plans just then ; and so the two or- ganizing forces of Western Europe joined hands. The Frankish mayor now was Pippin the Short, son of Charles Martel. This ruler felt that he bore the burdens of kingship, and he wished to take to himself also its name and dignity. Such a step needed powerful sanction. So, in 750, Pippin sent an embassy to the pope to ask whether this was “ a good state of things in regard to the kings of the Franks.” The pope replied, “It seems better that he who has the power should be king rather then he who is falsely called so.” Thereupon Pippin shut up the last shadow-king of the house of Clovis in a monastery, and himself assumed the crown. A little later. Pope Stephen visited the Frankish court and solemnly consecrated Pippin king. All earlier Teutonic kings had held their kingship by will of their people ; but Stephen anointed Pippin, as the old Hebrew prophets did the Hebrew kings. This began for European monarchs their “sacred” character as “the Lord’s anointed.” On his part. Pippin made Lombardy a tributary state and gave to the pope that territory which the Lombard king had recently seized from Ravenna. This “Donation of Pippin” created the modern principality of “the Papal States” — to last until 1870. For Further Reading. — The closing numbers of Davis’ Readings, II, contain excellent source material on this period. See, too, Ogg’s Source Book, especially for Mohammedanism. If time is found for other library work, the following books are among the most useful : Emerton’s Introduction to the Middle Ages, chs. i-vii ; Hodgkin’s Theodoric the Goth; Muir’s Mohammed; Sargeant’s The Franks. CHAPTER XXIX CHARLEMAGNE’S EMPIRE “A patch of light in the vast gloom. ” Pippin, King of the Franks, died in 768, and was succeeded by his son Karl the Great, known in his own day as Carolus Magnus, and best known to us by the French form Charlemagne. Charlemagne was a statesman rather than a fighter; but he found his realm still threatened by barbarian Germans on the east and by Mohammedan Moors on the south, and his long reign of a half century was filled with ceaseless border wars. He thrust back the Saracens to the Ebro, redeeming a strip of Spain; and, in a long pounding of thirty years, he subdued the heathen Saxons amid the marshes and trackless wilderness between the lower Rhine and the Elbe. All this district, so long a peril to the civilized world, was colonized by Frankish pioneers and planted with Christian churches. In such bloody and violent ways Charlemagne laid the foundation for modern Germany. Other foes engaged energy the great king would rather have given to reconstruc- tion. The vassal Lombard king attacked the pope. After fruitless expostulation, Charlemagne marched into Italy, confirmed Pippin’s “Donation,” and at Pavia placed the Iron Crown of Lombardy upon his own head, as King of Italy. And when restless Bavaria once more rebelled, that district was at last thoroughly subdued. Thus Visigoth in northern Spain, Burgund in south Gaul, 259 Seal of Chaelemagne. (This is the nearest approach we have to a likeness of Charle- magne. The so-called “pictures” of Charle- magne in many books are purely imagina- tive, by artists of later centuries.) Charle- magne, 768-814 Repulse of barbarian danger : civilization expanded 260 THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE Buffer ’■ states on the east “ Emperor of the Romans,” 800 A D. The two Empires Lombard in Italy, and the more newly “civilized” Bavarian and Saxon in Germany, along with the dominant Franks — all the surviving Teutonic 'peoples except the Norsemen in the Scandinavian lands and the Angles and Saxons in Britain — were fused in one Christian Ro'mano- Teutonic state. Beyond this “Western Europe,” to the east, stretched away savage and heathen Avars and Slavs, still hurling themselves from time to time against the barriers of the civilized world. Charle- magne made no attempt to embody these inharmonious elements in his realm ; but, toward the close, he did reduce the first line of peoples beyond the Elbe and the Danube into tributary states to serve as buffers against their untamed brethren farther east. But no mere “King of the Franks” could hold in lasting alle- giance the minds of Visigoth, Lombard, Bavarian, and Saxon, and of the old Roman populations among whom they dwelt. And so Charlemagne . now strengthened his "authority over his empire by reviving m the West the dignity and magic name of the Roman Empire, ruling at once from the old world-capital, Rome on the Latin Tiber, and from his new capital, the German Aachen near the Rhine. There was already a “Roman Emperor” at Constantinople, whose authority, in theory, extended over all Christendom ; but just at this time, Irene, the empress-mother, put out the eyes of her son, Constantine VI, and seized the imperial power. To most minds. East and West, it seemed monstrous that a wicked woman should pretend to the scepter of the world ; and, on Christmas Day, 800 a.d., as Charlemagne at Rome knelt in prayer at the altar. Pope Leo III placed upon his head a gold crown, saluting him “Charles Augustus, Emperor of the Ro- mans.” This deed was at once ratified by the enthusiastic acclaim of the multitude without. In theory, Rome had chosen a successor to Constantine VI, just deposed at Constantinople. In actual fact, however, the deed of Leo and Charlemagne divided the Christian loorld into two rival empires, each calling itself the Roman Empire. After a time men had to recognize this fact, — as they had to recognize i CIVILIZATION REORGANIZED 261 j i ! i| H ''1 3 I I that there were two branches of the Christian church; but to the men of the West, their Empire, like their church, remained the only legitimate one. In plain fact, neither Empire was really Roman. The Eastern grew more and more Oriental, and the Western more Teutonic. The glory and prosperity of the old Empire had not been restored with its name. To accomplish that was to be the work of centuries more. In 800, the West was still ignorant and wretched. Roads had fallen to ruin, and murderous brigands infested those that re- mained. Money was little known, and trade hardly existed. Almost the only in- dustry was the primi- tive agriculture of the serfs. Even Charle- Silver Coin of Charlemagne. The obverse , T . side shows the Latin form of his name. Note magne could raise no rudeness of the engraving compared with “taxes.” He exacted that of Justinian’s coin on p. 248, or older (c • . ,, . coins, pp. 162, 177, 243, etc. service m person m war and peace ; and the other support of his court came mainly from the produce of the royal farms scattered through the kingdom. Partly to make sure of this revenue in the cheapest way, and more to attend to the wants of his vast realms, Charlemagne and his court were always on the move. No commercial traveler of to-day travels more faithfully, or dreams of encountering such hardship on the road. To keep in closer touch with popular feeling in all parts of the kingdom, Charlemagne made use of the old Teutonic assem- blies in fall and spring. All freemen could attend. Sometimes, especially wRen war was to be decided upon, this “Mayfield” gathering comprised the bulk of the Frankish nation. At other times it was made up only of nobles and churchmen. To these assemblies were read the capitularies, or collections of laws, decreed by the king. {Lawmaking loas in the hands of the king. At the most, the assemblies could only bring to bear upon him mildly the force of public opinion.) Poverty and misery of Europe, 8oo A .D. The “ May- fields ” of the Franks 262 THE EMPIRE OP CHARLEMAGNE Attempts to revive learning The world of 800 A.D. Charlemagne made brave attempts also to revive learning. He never learned to write, but he spoke and read Latin, and he understood some Greek. For his age he was an educated man ; and he wished earnestly to make more learning possible for others. Nearly every noble, and many of the clergy, were densely ignorant. The only tools to work with were poor. There seemed no place to begin. Still much was done. For teachers Charlemagne sought out learned men in South Italy, where Roman civilization best survived, and he opened schools in monasteries and at bishops’ seats for the instruction of all children who could come to them — even the children of serfs. Some of these schools, as at Tours and Orleans, lived on through the Middle Ages.^ In the early part of the eighth century there were four great forces contending for Western Europe, — the Greek Empire, the Saracens, the Franks, and the papacy. By the year 800, Charles Martel and Charles the Great had excluded the first two and had fused the other two into the revived Roman Empire. For centuries more, this Roman Empire was to be one of the most important forces in Europe. Barbarism and anarchy were again to break in, after the death of the great Charles ; but the imperial idea, to which he had given new life, was to be for ages the inspiration of the best minds as they strove against anarchy in behalf of order and progress. Charlemagne himself towers above all other men from the fifth century to the fifteenth — easily the greatest figure of a thou- sand years. He stands for five mighty movements. He widened the area of civilization, created one great Romano-Teutonic state, revived the Roman Empire in the West for the out- ward form of this state, reorganized church and society, and began a revival of learning. He wrought wisely to combine the best elements of Roman and of Teutonic society into a new civilization. In his Empire were fused the various streams 1 The term “Middle Ages” is used for the centuries from 400 to 1500, or from the Teutonic invasions to the discovery of America. These centuries cover that “Medieval” period which intervenes between the distinctly Ancient and the distinctly Modern period. AND OUR HERITAGE 263 of infhtence which the earlier world contributed to our modern world. The scene of history had shifted to the West once more, and this time it had shrunken in size. Some Teutonic districts outside the old Roman world had been added ; but vast areas of the Roman territory itself had been abandoned. The Euphrates, the Nile, the Eastern Mediterranean, all Asia with Eastern Europe to the Adriatic, and Africa with Western Europe to the Pyrenees, were gone. The Mediterranean, the central highway of . the old Roman world, had become an ill- defended moat between Christian Europe and Mohammedan Africa ; and its ancient place was taken over, as well as might be, by the Rhine and the North Sea. Scene of “ history ” shifted to “ Western Europe ’’ We can now sum up the inheritance with which “Western Europe” began. Through Rome the Western peoples were the heirs of Grhek Our debt to mind and Oriental hand, including most of those mechanical arts which had been built up in dim centuries by Egyptian, Babylonian, and Phoenician ; and though much of this inherit- ance, both intellectual and material, was forgotten or neglected for hundreds of years, most of it was finally to be recovered. Rome also passed on Christianity and its church organization. Rome herself had contributed (1) a universal language, which was long to serve as a common medium of learning and inter- course for all the peoples of Western Europe ; (2) Roman law ; (3) municipal institutions, in southern Europe ; (4) the impe- rial idea — the conception of one, lasting, universal, supreme au- thority, to which the world owed obedience. The fresh blood of the Teutons ^ reinvigorated the old races, and so provided the men who for centuries were to do the 1 The use of the words German and Teuton in the above treatment calls for a word of caution. The mingling of Teutonic and Roman elements in our civilization took place not in Germany but in the lands we call Eng- land, France, Belgium, Italy, and Spain. The people who brought the Teutonic contributions into those lands were not the ancestors of the mod- ern Germans — any more than were other Teutons, like the Danes and Swedes, who never entered Germany. 264 THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE world’s work. The Teutons contributed, too, certain definite ideas and institutions : (1) a new sense of personal inde- pendence ; (2) a bond of personal loyalty between chieftain and follower, in contrast with the old Roman loyalty to the state ; (3) a new chance for democracy, especially in the popular assemblies of different grades in England. Out of Roman and Teutonic elements there had already de- veloped a new serf organization of labor ; a new nobility ; and a new Romano-Teutonic kingship — and now there was to grow out of them a new feudalism (ch. xxx). Fob Further Reading. — Ogg’s Source Book, ch. x; Hodgkin’s Charles the Great; Davis’ Charlemagne; Masterman’s Dawn of Me- dieval Europe. The Fields of Ancient Histort. V CHAPTER XXX THE FEUDAL AGE, 800-1300 I. THE NEW BARBARIAN ATTACK "From the fury of the Northmen, 0 Lord, deliver us.” — Prayer in Church Service of Tenth Century. Charlemagne died in 814, and his empire did not long outlive him. His brilliant attempt to bring Western Europe into order and union was followed by a dismal period of reaction and turmoil, while his ignoble descendants sought only to see who could grab the largest slices of the realm. The most important of these selfish contests closed in 843 with the Treaty of Verdun. This treaty begins the map of modern Europe. Lothair, Charlemagne’s eldest grandson, held the title Emperor, and so he was now given North Italy and a narrow strip of land from Italy to the North Sea — that he might keep the two imperial capitals, Rome and Aachen. The rest of the Empire, lying east and west of this middle strip, was broken into two kingdoms for Lothair’s two brothers. The eastern kingdom was purely German. In the western, the Teutonic rulers were being absorbed rapidly into the older Roman and Gallic populations, to grow into France. Lothair’s unwieldy “Middle Europe” proved the weakest of the three. Italy fell away at once. Then the northern portion, part French, part German, crumbled into “little states” that con- 265 The division of Verdun, 843 A.D. Beginnings of France and Ger- many Degenerate Carolin- gians 266 WESTERN EUROPE — NINTH CENTURY New bar- barian in- roads The Norsemen fused the map of Europe for centuries, most of them to be absorbed finally by more powerful neighbors. For a century after Verdun, political history remained a bloody tangle of treacherous family quarrels, while the descend- ants of the Hammer and the Great were known as the Bald, the Simple, the Fat, the Lazy. And now distracted Europe was imperiled by a new danger from without. Once more bar- barian invasions threatened the civilized world. On the east, hordes of wild Slavs and of wilder Hungarians broke across the frontiers, ravaged Germany, and penetrated sometimes even to Rome or to Toulouse in southern France ; the Mohammedan Remains of a Viking Ship found buried in sand at Gokstad, Norway. It is of oak, unpainted, 79' 4" by 16|' ; 6 feet deep in the middle. Moors from Africa attacked Italy and Sicily, establishing them- selves firmly in many districts ; and fierce Norse pirates harried every coast. The Norsemen were a new branch of the Teutons, and the fiercest and wildest of that race. They dwelt in the Scandi- navian peninsulas, and were still heathen. They had taken no part in the earlier Teutonic invasions; but, in the ninth century, population was becoming too crowded for their bleak lands, and they were driven to seek new homes. Some of them colonized distant Iceland, but the greater number resorted to raiding richer countries. The Swedes conquered Finns and “BRITAIN” BECOMES “ENGLAND 267 Slavs on the east, while Danish and Norse “Vikings” (“sons of the fiords”) set forth upon “the pathway of the swans,” in fleets, sometimes of hundreds of boats, to harry western Europe. Driving their light craft far up the rivers, they then seized horses and ravaged at will, sacking cities like Hamburg, Rouen, Paris, Nantes, Tours, Cologne, and stabling their steeds in the cathedral of Aachen about the tomb of Charlemagne. At last, like the earlier Teutons, the Norsemen from plun- derers became conquerors. They settled the Orkneys and Shetlands and patches on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, and finally established themselves in the north of France — named, from them, Normandy — and in the east of England. II. BRITAIN BECOMES ENGLAND We must go back to note how Britain had become England. In 408 the Roman legions were withdrawn from Britain to defend Italy against the threatened invasion by the Goths (p. 245). This left the dismayed Romanized Britons to defend themselves as best they could against the wild Celts ^ from the Scottish mountains and the Teutonic Angles and Saxons from the sea side. The Britons called in these Teutons to beat off the other foe, and (449) these dangerous protectors began to take the land for their own, — in many little kingdoms. This conquest, unlike that of Gaul and Spain, was very slow. It took the Teutons a century and a half (till about 600) to master the eastern half of the island. Coming hy sea, they came necessarily in small bands. They were still pagans: so they spread ruthless destruction and provoked desperate resistance. Moreover Britain had been less completely Roman- ized than the continental provinces were : there was more forest and marsh, and fewer Roman roads ; hence the natives found it easier to make repeated stands. And because the conquest was slow, it was thorough. Eastern England became strictly a Teutonic land. Roman institutions and language vanished, and the Romanized natives were slain or enslaved. 1 Celt includes the Highland Scots, the Irish, the Gauls of France, and the native Britons of Britain before the Teutonic conquest, The Teutonic conquest of Britain, 449-600 A.D. The con- quest slow and thorough ( 268 WESTERN EUROPE — NINTH CENTURY About 600 A.D. Christian missionaries from Rome (and some from Ireland) converted these heathen conquerors. And in St. Martin’s Church, Near Canterbury. — From a photograph. Parts of the building are very old and may have belonged to a church of the Roman period. At all events, on this site was the first Christian church used by Augustine and his fellow missionaries, sent out by Pope Gregory to convert the Teutonic states in Britain. Queen Bertha, a Frapkish princess, who had married the heathen king of Kent, secured them this privilege. Her tomb is shown in the church. The Danes in England the middle of the ninth century Egbert, king of the West Saxons (Wessex, in South England), made himself also king of the Angles (English) and finally brought all the Teutonic parts of the island under his authority as head king. Then came the Danish invasions. In 871, after a great battle in which the king of Wessex was slain, the Danes became for a time masters of Eng- land. The power of Wessex - was soon revived however by Alfred the Great (871- 901). The Danes were defeated, baptized, and shut off in the “Danelaw” northeast of Watling Street (an old Roman Plowing — from an Anglo-Saxon manu script in the British Museum. FEUDALISM 269 road from London to Chester) ; and all the Teutonic states in South England now willingly accepted the rule of Wessex for protection against the Dane. Alfred gave the rest of his splendid life to heal the wounds of his kingdom, and, more successfully than Charlemagne, to revive learning in a barbarous age — though at first there could be found “not' one priest” in the kingdom who could understand the church services that he mumbled by rote — and Alfred’s sons and grandson, in a measure, reconquered Danish England. III. FEUDALISM “A -protest of barbarism against barbarism” — Taine. After Charlemagne, the ninth century on the continent became a time of indescribable horror. The strong robbed the weak, and brigands worked their will in plun- der and torture. But out of this anarchy emerged a new social order. Here and there, and in ever growing numbers, some petty chief — retired bandit, rude huntsman, or old officer of a king — planted himself firmly on a small domain, fortifying a stockaded house and gathering a troop of fighters under him to protect it. By so doing, he became the protector of others. The neighbor- hood turned gladly to any strong man as its defender and master. Weaker land- Entrance to a Feudal Castle. — From . j j 1 /a Gautier’s La Chevalerie. The draw-bridge lords surrendered ( com- crossed the moa<, or ditch, that surrounded mended”) their lands to a castle. When it was raised, the porf- , . . . , cullis (whose massive iron teeth can be nim, receiving them back seen in the doorway) was let fall. Alfred the Great The anarchy of the ninth century forces Europe into feudalism Origin of the feudal privileges of the nobles 270 THE FEUDAL AGE as “fiefs.” They became his vassals; he became their lord. The former “free peasants,” on the lord’s own lands and on the lands of his vassals, saw that they were no longer at the mercy of any chance marauder. They ventured again to plow and sowj and perhaps they were permitted in part to reap. On their part, they cultivated also the lord’s crop, and paid him dues for house, for cattle, and for each sale or inheritance. The village became his village ; the inhabitants, his villeins. Fugitive wretches, too, without the old resident’s claim to con- sideration, gathered on the lord’s lands to receive such measure Bodlam Castle in England — a well-preserved medieval structure. of mercy as he might grant, and usually sank into the class of serfs of whom there were already many on ail estates. In return for the protection he gave, the lord assumed great privileges, unspeakably obnoxious in later centuries, but in their origin connected with some benefit. The noble slew the wild beast — and came to have the sole right to hunt. As orgilliizer of labor, he forced the villeins to build the mill {his mill), the oven, the ferry, the bridge, the highway ; then he took toll for the use of each — and later he demolished mills that the villeins wished to build for themselves. CASTLES AND MEN-AT-ARMS 271 Finally each district had its body of mailed horsemen and its circle of frowning castles. These two features typify the new order — which we call feudalism. “Castles” rose at every ford and above each mountain pass and on every hill commanding a fertile plain. At first they were mere wooden blockhouses, but soon they grew into those enormous structures of massive stone, crowned by frowning battlements and inclosing many acres, whose picturesque gray ruins still dot the landscape in Europe. Upon even the early castle, the Norse invader spent his force in vain ; while each such fortress was ready to pour forth its band of trained men-at-arms (horsemen in mail) to cut off stragglers and hold the fords. The raider’s day was over — but meanwhile the old Teutonic militia, in which every freeman had his place, had given way to an ironclad cav- alry, the resistless weapon of a new feudal aristocracy, which could ride down foot-soldiers {infantry) at will — till the invention of gunpowder, cen- turies later, helped again to make fighting men equal. Knight in Plate Aemob, visor up. — ■ From Lacroix, „ , ,, T . ■ . 77 • Vie Militaire. Plate armor Each petty district was practically in- 1300, dependent of every other district. The succeeding lighter chain king had been expected to protect ‘ every corner of his realm. Actually he had protected only some central district ; but under feudalism each little chieftain proved able to protect his small corner, when he had seized the king’s powers there. His territory was a little state. The great nobles coined money and made war like very kings. Indeed a vassal owed allegiance to his overlords two or more grades above him only through the one overlord just above him. He must follow his The feudal castle And the ironclad cavalry Feudal “ decentral- ization ” 272 THE FEUDAL AGE Economic causes of feudalism Feudal land- holding Lords and vassals immediate lord to war against them and even against his king. This decentralization was the result not only of military needs but also of economic ^ needs — of the lack of money and the lack of roads. The rich man’s wealth was all in land; and he could make his land pay him only by renting it out for services or for produce. “Nobles” paid him for parts of it by fighting for him. Workers paid him for other parts by rais- ing and harvesting his crops and by giving him part of their own. A man without land was glad to pay so for the use of some in one way or the other. In theory, the holder of any 'piece of land was a tenant of some higher landlord. The king was the supreme landlord. He let out most of the land of the kingdom, on terms of military serv- ice, to great vassals. Each of these parceled out most of what he received, on like terms, to smaller vassals ; and so on, perhaps through six or seven steps, until the smallest division was reached that could support a mailed horseman. But in practice there was no such regularity. The various grades were interlocked in the most confusing way. Except for the smallest knights, all landlords of the fighting class were “ suzerains ” (liege lords) ; and, except perhaps the king, all were vassals. There was no great social distinction between lord and vassals. The “vassal” was always a “noble,” and his service was always “honorable,” — never to be confounded with the “ignoble” service paid by serfs and villeins. The relation between suzerain and vassal had the character of a bargain for mutual advantage. The vassal was to present himself at the call of his lord to serve in war, with followers according to the size of his fief, but only for short terms and usually not to go “out of the realm.” He must also serve in the lord’s “court” twice or thrice a year, to advise in matters of policy and to give judgment in disputes between vassals. He did not pay “taxes,” in our sense, but on frequent occasions he did have to make to the lord certain financial contributions — “reliefs” and “aids.” The lord, on his part, was bound to 1 Economics refers to wealth, as politics does to government. PRIVATE WARS 273 defend his vassal, to treat him justly, and to see that he found just treatment from his co-vassals. Feudal theory, then, paid elaborate regard to rights; but feudal 'practice was mainly a matter of force. It was not easy to enforce the decisions of the crude courts against a noble offender who chose to resist, and in any case war was thought the most honorable way to settle disputes. Like the trial by combat, it was considered an appeal to the judgment of God. “Private wars,” between noble and noble, became a chief evil of the age. They hindered the growth of industry, and commonly they hurt neutral parties more than belligerents. There was little actual suffering by the warring nobles, and very little heroism. The weaker party usually shut itself up in its castle. The stronger side ravaged the villages in the neighborhood, driving off the cattle and perhaps torturing the peasants for their small hidden treasures, and outraging the women. Clergy and nobles, praying class and fighting class, were supported by a vastly larger number of “ignoble” workers, who were usually referred to only as other live stock might be men- tioned. Each noble had to keep some of his land for the support of his own household and for other revenue. This “domain” land was cultivated by the lord’s serfs and villeins, under direction of a bailiff, or steward. The peasant workers did not live in scattered farmhouses, each on its own field ; they were grouped in little villages of twenty or fifty dwellings, as in Europe to-day. Such a village, with its adjoining “fields,’’ was a “manor.” Each manor had its church, at a little distance, and usually its manor house — the lord’s castle on a hill above the other dwellings, or maybe a house only a trifle better than the homes of the villeins, used by the lord’s steward. At one end of the street stood the lord’s smithy ; and near by, on some convenient stream, was the lord’s mill. As in the last Roman days (p. 235), the serf was bound to the soil by law ; he could not leave it, but neither could he be sold apart from it. He had his own bit of ground to cultivate. Private war The feudal manor Serfs and villeins 274 THE FEUDAL AGE Homes of the peasants at such times as the lord’s bailiff did not call him to labor on the lord’s land. Usually the bailiff summoned the serfs in turn, each for two or for three days each week; but in harvest or haying he might keep them all busy, to the ruin of their own little crops. If the serf did get a crop, he had to pay a large part of it for the use of his land. He paid also a multitude of other dues and fines — sometimes in money, but usually “ in kind,” — eggs, a goose, a cock, a calf, a portion of grain. The villein was a step higher. He was “free” in person. That is, he could leave his land and change lords at will ; but A Reaper’s Cart Going up Hill. — After a fourteenth century manu- script. The force of men and horses, and the character of the wheels, indicates the nature of the roads. (The steepness of the hill is exag- gerated, to fit the picture to the space in the manuscript.) he had to have some lord. The landless and masterless man was an outlaw, at the mercy of any lord. In profits from labor and in manner of life there was little to choose between serf and villein. The homes, serf’s or villein’s, were low, filthy, earth-floored, straw-thatched, one-room hovels of wood and sticks plastered together with mud, without window or chimney (except a hole in the roof). These homes straggled along either side of an irregular lane, where poultry, pigs, and children played together in the dirt. Behind each house was its weedy garden patch, and its low stable. HOW THE COMMON PEOPLE LIVED 275 Small as the house was it was not cluttered with furniture. A handmill for grinding meal, or at least a stone mortar in which to crush grain, a pot and kettle, possibly a feather bed, one or two rude benches, and a few tools for the peasant’s work, made up the contents of even the well-to-do homes. Farming was very crude. The plowland was dimded into three great “fields.” These were unfenced, and lay about the village at any convenient spots. One field was sown to wheat (in the fall) ; one to rye or barley (in the spring) ; and the third lay fallow, to recuperate. The next year this third field would be the wheat land, while the old wheat field would raise the barley, and so on. This primitive “rotation of crops” kept a third of the land idle. Every “field” was divided into a great number of narrow strips, each as nearly as possible a “furrow-long ” and one, two, or four rods wide, so that each contained from a quarter of an acre to an acre. Usu- ally the strips were separated by “balks,” or ridges of turf. K peasant’s holding was about thirty acres, ten acres in each “ field ” ; and his share in each lay not in one piece, but in fifteen or thirty scattered strips. (See cut, p. 252.) This kind of holding compelled a “common” cultivation. That is, each man must sow what his neighbor sowed ; and as a rule, each could sow, till, and harvest only when his neighbors did. Three-fold the seed, or six bushels of wheat to the acre, was a good crop in the thirteenth century. There were of course extensive pasture and wood lands for the cattle and svdne. Farm animals were small. The wooden plow required eight Falconry. — • From a medieval manuscript re- produced by Lacroix. A falconer, to capture and train young hawks to bring game to the master, was among the most trusted under- officials of each castle. Cultivation of the land in common 276 THE FEUDAL AGE SmaU variety in food Life in the manor Life in the castle oxen, and then it did hardly more than scratch the surface of the ground. Carts were few and cumbrous. There was little or no cultivation of root foods. Potatoes, of course, were un- known. Sometimes a few turnips and cabbages and carrots, rather uneatable varieties probably, were grown in garden plots behind the houses. Well-to-do peasants had a hive of bees in the garden plot. Honey was the chief luxury of the poor : sugar was still unknown in Europe. It was difficult to carry enough animals through the winter for the necessary farm work and breeding; so those to be used for food were killed in the fall and salted down. The large use of salt meat and the little variety in food caused loathsome diseases. Each village was a world hy itself. Even the different villages of the same lord had little intercourse with one another. The lord’s bailiff secured from some dis- tant market the three outside products needed, — salt, millstones, and iron for the plowshares and for other tools. Except for this, a village was hardly touched by the outside world — unless a war desolated it, or a royal proces- sion chanced to pass through it. The noble classes lived a life hardly more attractive to us. They dwelt in gloomy fortresses over dark dungeons where prisoners rotted. They had fighting for business, and hunting with hound and hawk, and playing at fight- ing (in tournament and joust), for pleasures. The ladies busied them- selves over tapestries and embroideries, in the chambers. Gay pages flitted through the halls, or played at chess in the deep windows. And in the courtyard lounged gruff men- at-arms, ready with blind obedience to follow the lord of the castle on any foray or even in an attack upon their king. The noble hunted for food, quite as much as for sport, and A Court Fool. — After a medieval miniature in brilliant colors. Many great lords kept such jesters. CHIVALRY 277 he did not suffer from lack of fresh meat. The game in forest and stream was his : for a common man to kill deer or hare or wild duck or trout, was to lose hand or eyes or life. Feasting filled a large part of the noble ’s life. Meals were served in the great hall of the castle, and were the social hours of the day. Tables were set out on movable trestles, and the household, visitors, and dependents gathered about them on seats and benches, with nice respect for rank, — the master and his noblest guests at the head, on a raised platform, or “dais,” and the lowest servants toward the bottom of the long line. A profusion of food in many courses, especially at the midday “dinner,” was carried in from the kitchen across the open courtyard. Peacocks, swans, whole boars were favorite roasts, and huge venison “pies” were a common dish. At each guest ’s place was a knife, to cut slices from the roasts within his reach, and a spoon for broths, but no fork or napkin or plate. Each one dipped his hand into the pasties, carry- ing the dripping food directly to his mouth. Loaves of bread were crumbled up and rolled between the hands to wipe off the surplus gravy, and then thrown to the dogs under the tables. The food was washed down with huge draughts of wine, usually diluted with water. Intervals between courses were filled with story telling and song, or by rude jokes from the lord’s “fool,” or perhaps traveling jugglers were brought in to perform. Jugglers in Sword-dance. — From a medieval manuscript. Hunting Feasting and story telling This grim life had its romantic side, indicated to us by the name chivalry (from the French cheval, horse) which has come to stand for the whole institution of knighthood. From the age of seven to that of fifteen, a noble boy usually served as a page in some castle (commonly not his own father’s), where he was trained daily in the use of light arms (cut on p. 278) and 278 THE FEUDAL AGE where he waited upon the ladies, — who in return taught him courtesy. Then for five or six years as a squire, the youth attended upon the lord of the castle, overseeing, too, in the field and in the hunt, the care of the lord’s horse and armor. Then he was ready to become a knight — after a solemn religious ceremony — by receiving the accolade (a light blow upon his shoulder as he The Exercise op the Quintain. — This shows an important part of the schooling of noble children. The boys ride, by turns, at the wooden figure. If the rider strikes the shield squarely in the center, it is well. If he hits only a glancing blow, the wooden figure swings on its foot and whacks him with its club as he passes. knelt) from some older knight. More honored, but rarer, was the noble who was dubbed knight by some famous leader on the field of victory for distinguished bravery. Chivalry has been called “the flower of feudalism.” True, its virtues (bravery and devotion to ladies — of noble birth) were carried to fantastic extremes ; and true, too, its spirit was wholly a class spirit, recognizing no obligation outside the noble class. Still chivalry did soften manners and help somewhat in that brutal age to elevate woman, and it had much to do with THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH 279 creating our idea of a gentleman. Toward the year 1400, the English poet Chaucer gives this picture of his ideal knight : “ A knight there was, and that a worthy man, That fro the time that he first began To riden out, he loved chivalry. Truth and honor, freedom and courtesy. . . And tho that he was worthy, he was wise. And of his port as meek as is a maid. And never yet no villainy he said. In all his life, unto no manner wight. He was a very perfect, gentle knight.” For Further Reading. — Excellent “source” material may be found in Robinson’s Readings or in Ogg’s Source Book, and in Lanier’s The Boy’s Froissart. Historical fiction upon the feudal period is particularly valuable. Scott’s novels, of course, must not be overlooked, although they give a false glamour to the age. They should be corrected by “Mark Twain’s” Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court. Other excel- lent portraits are given in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Black Arrow and Conan Doyle’s White Company. Charlotte Yonge’s Little Duke and Stockton’s Story of Viteau are good for young students and will be enjoyed by older ones. IV. THE CHURCH IN THE FEUDAL AGE The church in the feudal age was not only a religious organiza- tion ; it was also a government. Its officers exercised many powers that have now been handed over to civil ^ officers. Pub- lie order depended upon it almost as completely as did private morals. With its spiritual thunders and the threat of its curse, it often protected the widow and orphan, and others in danger of oppression, from brutal barons who had respect for no earthly power. All Christendom was made up of parishes, — the smallest church units (p. 255). A group of parishes made up the diocese of a bishop. Nearly every town of any consequence in the twelfth century was a bishop ’s seat. The bishop was the main- spring in church government. He was revered as the suc- cessor of the apostles, and was subject only to the guidance of 1 Civil is used very commonly in contrast to ecclesiasiical. The church also a government The bishop 280 THE FEUDAL AGE Bishops’ cotirts Benefit of clergy The arch- bishop the pope (successor to the chief of the apostles). Originally, the bishop ’s special duty had been to oversee the parish priests ; but, with the growth of the church, he had come to have other functions. He was a great feudal landlord, owing military service to one or more suzerains, and holding power over many temporal vassals ; he had charge of extensive church property in his diocese, and of the collection of church revenues; and he looked after the enforcement of the laws of the church. This “canon law” had grown into a complex system. To ad- minister justice under it, each bishop held a court, made up of trained churchmen. This court had jurisdiction not merely over matters pertaining to the church : it tried any case that involved a clergyman or any one else under the special protec- tion of the church. To help in these duties, the bishop had a body of assistant clergy called canons. On the death of the bishop, this body (the “cathedral chapter”) chose his successor, — subject perhaps to the approval of some king or other tem- poral ruler. This right of the clergy to be tried in clerical courts was known as “benefit of clergy.” The practice had its good side. Ordinary courts and ordinary law partook of the violent and ferocious life of the age. Trials were rude ; and ghastly punish- ments were inflicted for trivial offenses, — often, no doubt, upon the innocent. It was a gain when the peaceful and moral part of society secured the right to trial in more intelligent courts and by more civilized codes. But the church law was too mild to deal with serious crimes. Its advantages tempted men to “take Holy Orders,” until, besides the preaching clergy and the monks, the land swarmed with “ clerics” who were really only lawyers, secretaries, scholars, teachers, or mere adventurers. Some of these, by their crimes, brought disgrace upon the church and danger to the state. A number of dioceses made up a province. Over each prov- ince, seated in its most important city, was an archbishop, with general supervision over the other bishops of the province. His court, too, heard appeals from theirs. THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH 281 At the head of all this hierarchy stood the pope, the spiritual The pope monarch of Christendom. He was supreme lawgiver, supreme judge, supreme executive. He issued new laws in the form of hulls (so-called from the gold seal, or bulla, on the documents), and he set aside old laws by his dispensations, — as when it seemed best to him to permit cousins to marry (a thing forbid- den by the canon law). His court heard appeals from the courts of bishop and archbishop, and likewise from many of the temporal courts of Christendom. Now and then he set aside appointments of bishops and other clergy, and himself filled the vacancies. At times he also sent legates into different countries, to represent his authority directly. A legate could revoke the judgment of a bishop’s court, remove bishops, and haughtily command obedience from kings, quite as Shakspere pictures in his Kmg John. For aid in his high office the pope College of gathered about him a “ college ” (collection) of cardinals. At first this body comprised only seven bishops of Rome and its vicinity ; but it grew to include great churchmen in all coun- tries. . To compel obedience, bishops and pope had two mighty Excommu- weapons — excommunication and interdict. An excommuni- cated man was shut out from all religious communion. He could attend no church service, receive no sacrament, and at death, if still unforgiven, his body could not receive Christian burial. Excommunication was also a boycott for all social and business relations. If obeyed by the community, it cut a man off absolutely from all communication with his fellows, and made him an outlaw. No one might speak to him or give him food or shelter, under danger of similar penalty, and his very presence was shunned like the pestilence. What excommuni- Interdict cation was to the individual, the interdict was to a district or a nation. Churches were closed, and no religious ceremonies were permitted, except the rites of baptism and of extreme unction. No marriage could be performed, and there could be no burial in consecrated ground. “ The dead were left unburied, and the living were unblessed.” 282 THE FEUDAL AGE The de- mocracy of the church The village priest Thus the church was a vast centralized monarchy, with its regular officers, its laws and legislatures and judges, its taxes, its terrible punishments — and its promise of eternal reward. And yet this government was more democratic in spirit than feudal society was. Men of humblest birth often rose to its loftiest offices. Gregory VII, who set his foot upon the neck of the mightiest king in Europe, was the son of a poor peasant. The church was the only part of society in the Mid- dle Ages where study and intellectual ability could lift a poor boy to power — and so it was recruited from the best minds. Of all this mighty or- ganization, the village priest brought the church closest home to the mass of the people. The great ec- clesiastics— bishops, arch- bishops, and abbots — were often from the noble class by birth, and in any case they always became part of the aristocracy. But the rural priest was com- monly a peasant in origin, and he often remained es- sentially a peasant in his life, — marrying in the village (until the eleventh century), and working in the fields with his neighbors. He was a peasant with a somewhat better income than his fellows, with a little learning, a revered position, and with great power for good. He christened, absolved, married, and buried his parishioners, looked after"* their bodily welfare so far as he knew how, comforted the heart-sore and wretched, and taught all, by word and example, to hold fast to right living. The church building was also the social center of the parish. Near it, on Norman Doorway (the West Portal) of Ipplby Church, a small but beautiful twelfth-century church in a little English village near Oxford. Norman architec- ture used the round arch and much plain ^ but effective ornament. It was soon to give way to the Gothic- See p. 304. THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH 283 Sunday, between the sacred services, the people found their chief recreation in sports and games. And from its steps the priest gave to them what news they received from the outside world, reading aloud there, too, any rare letter that some adven- turous wanderer might be able to get written for him by some stranger -priest. In the twelfth century, when, as we shall see, towns began to grow up, these did not fit into the old organization of the church. Neither parish priests nor monks took care of the religious needs of the crowded populations. The poorer inhabitants were miserable in body, too, beyond all words, — fever and plague stricken, perishing of want and filth. Early in the thirteenth century, these conditions called forth a religious revival, with the rise of two new religious orders — the Franciscan and the Dominican brotherhoods. These “begging friars” went forth, two and two, to the poor and the outcasts, to act as healers and preachers. They were missionary monks. V. ENGLAND IN THE FEUDAL AGE Long before the year 1000 the Saxons in England had learned to work many forms of local self-government — to manage many of their own affairs at their own doors, not only in village (manor) “ courts,” but also in courts (assemblies) of the larger units, the hundreds and shires (counties). Moreover, they had become familiar with the practice of sending a sort of representa- tive from the village to these larger assemblies — since all men could not attend these in person. True, after the year 900 an irregular Saxon feudalism had been growing up; and these local “courts” had fallen largely under the control of neighboring landlords. Still enough activity among the people themselves survived so that these assemblies, with their representative principle, Vv^ere to prove the cradle of later English and American liberty. In 1066 came the Norman Conquest. A century and a half before, Norse pirates had settled in a province of northern France. In that district of Normandy (p. 267), they had The friars and town life Local self- government and the idea of represen- tation in Saxon England Saxon feudalism The Norman Conquest, io66 284 THE FEUDAL AGE A more efla[cient • central government quickly become leaders in Frankish “civilization,” and now they transplanted it among the ruder Saxons of England, along with much new blood and new elements in language and im- portant contributions in government. Since the time of Alfred, the chief dangers to England had been (1) a possible splitting apart of Danish north and Saxon south, and (2) the growth of feudal anarchy. The Norman crushed the old north and south into one, and built up a cen- A thousand- year struggle for liberty Battle of Hastings. — From the Bayeux Tapestry. The Bayeux Tapes- try is a linen band 230 feet long and 20 inches wide, embroidered in colored worsteds, with 72 scenes illustrating the Norman Conquest. It was a contemporary work. The scene given here pertains to the close of the battle. Harold, the Saxon king, supported by his chosen “hus- carles,” is making the final stand, beneath the Dragon standard, against the Norman horse led by Duke William, afterward known as the Con- queror. tral government strong enough to control the feudal nobles and to prevent them from dividing the kingly power among themselves. Local institutions, in the main, remained Saxon, but the central government gained a new efficiency from the Norman genius for organization. At the same time, the Norman kings were not supreme enough to become absolute despots. This was chiefly because, through dread of the new royal power, conquering Norman noble and conquered Saxon people drew together quiekly into an English nation — the first true nation of Europe. Then, in ENGLAND : THE NORMAN CONQUEST 285 centuries of slow, determined progress, this new nation won constitutional liberty. “Lance and torch and tumult, steel and gray-goose wing, Wrenched it, inch and ell and all, slowly from the king.” And not merely by fighting in the field was this liberty won, but, even more, by countless almost unrecorded martyrdoms of heroic and often nameless men, on the scaffold, in the dun- geon, or, harder still, in broken lives and ruined homes. Thus did Englishmen, at a great price, work out, first of all peoples for a large territory, the union of a strong central government and of free institutions. The Conquest drew isolated England back into the thick of continental politics. Henry II (1154-1189) was the most powerful monarch of Europe, ruling not only England but more than half France as well — as a nominal vassal of the French king. Still all the really important results of his long and busy reign came in England. Preeminent stands out the organiza- tion of the English courts of justice, with circuit judges to spread a “common” law throughout the entire realm — in place of the varying local customs found in feudal courts in the con- tinental countries. At this same time came the development of our grand jury and also of our trial jury. Henry’s reforms, as completed a century later by the great Edward, gave us the English judicial system of the present day in almost every particular. The first Norman king had carried out a great census (recorded in Domesday Book) of the people and the resources of the realm. In com- piling this census, he relied mainly (in the Norman ignorance of the land) upon a body of sworn men (jurors) in each neighborhood. This was an old Norman custom; but, while it disappeared in Normandy, it had a wonderful development in England. Succeeding kings used it in hundreds of cases of which we have record for like though less important cases, and probably it was the biggest one element in the appearance of representative government (p. 288). Between the great Henry and the even greater Edward came three weak, would-be tyrants — Richard, John, and the third Reforms of Henry II in the law courts Circuit judges and the Common Law 286 THE FEUDAL AGE Magna Carta, 1215 And American liberty Henry. The misrule of John resulted in Magna Carta ; that of Henry, in the first true Parliament. 1. In 1215, mai grassy meadow of the Thames called Runny- mede, the tyrant John, backed only by a few mercenaries and confronted by a people in arms, found himself forced to sign the Great Charter, “the first great document in the Bible of English Liberties.” In the main, the charter merely restated ancient liberties; but the closing provision expressly sanctioned rebellion against Nullus liber homo capiatur, vel imprisonetur, aut dissaisiatur, aut ullage tur, No free man shall be taken, or imprisoned, or dispossessed, or outlawed, emu n Ci aut exuletur, aut aliquo modo destruatur, nec super eum ibimus nec super or banished, or in any v)ay destroyed, nor will we go upon him nor upon ettm tmtteiti? 111^ ;p female fngm* Sr eum mittemus, nisi per legale judicium parium suorum vel per legem terrae. him send, except by the legal judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. Nulli vendemus, nulli negabimus, aut differemus, rectum aut justiciam. To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny, or delay, right or justice. Sections 39 and 40 of Magna Cahta. — The bars are facsimiles of the writing in the charter, with the curious abbreviations of the medieval Latin. Below each line is given the Latin in full with a translation. a king who should refuse to obey it. That is, it set the law of the land above the king’s will. True, in some other countries during the Middle Ages, the great vassals extorted charters of liberties for themselves from their kings. But in this charter, the barons promised to their dependents the same rights they de- manded for themselves from the king, and special provisions looked after the welfare of townsmen and even of villeins. In the next two centuries, English kings were obliged to “confirm” it thirty- eight times ; and its principles, and some of its wording, have ENGLAND : MAGNA CARTA 287 passed into the constitution and laws of every American state. The charter defined the “aids” to which suzerains were entitled, — and so put an end to extortion. It declared that the king could raise no scutage^ or other unusual “aid” from his vassals without the consent of the Great Council, — and since all vassals of the king could attend this Council, this provision established the principle, No taxation without the con- sent of the taxed. It declared an accused man entitled to speedy trial, — and so laid the foundation for later laws of habeas corpus. It affirmed that no villein, by any fine, should lose his oxen or plow, and so foreshadowed our modern laws pro- viding that legal suits shall not take from a man his home or his tools. Two notable provisions are shown on p. 286. 2. Henry II and Edward I were the two great “lawgivers” among the English kings. But Henry carried his many re- forms, not by royal decrees, but by a series of “assizes” (codes) drawn up by the Great Council ; and Edward carried his in an even longer series of “statutes” enacted by a new national legislature which we call Parliament. Some sort of “Assembly” has always made part of the Eng- lish government. Under the Saxon kings, the Witan (or meeting of Wisemen) sanctioned codes of laws and even deposed and elected kings. It consisted of large land-owners and officials and the higher clergy, with now and then some mingling of more democratic elements, and it was far more powerful than the Frankish Mayfield (p. 261). After the Conquest, the Witan gave way to the Great Council of the Norman kings. This was a feudal gathering — made up of lords and bishops, resembling the Witan, but more aris- tocratic, and less powerful. A king was supposed to rule “ with the advice and consent” of his Council; but in practice that body was merely the king’s mouthpiece until Henry II raised it to real importance. All who held land directly of the king (“tenants-in-chief,” 1 A sort of war tax recently introduced in the place of military service. The beginnings of Parlia- ment 288 THE FEUDAL AGE or “barons”) were entitled to attend the Council, but only the “great barons” ever came. Magna Carta directed that there- after the great barons were to be summoned individually by letter, and the numerous smaller barons hy a general notice read by the sheriffs in the court of each county. Still the smaller barons failed to assemble; and in the troubles of the reign of Henry III, on two or three occasions, the sheriffs had been directed to see to it that each county sent knights to the Cloisters of Saxisbury Cathedral — a shaded walk surrounding the inner court (“close ”) except where the walls of the Cathedral itself form the inclosure. Cf. Plate L, facing p. 313. gathering. Thus a representative element was introduced into the national assembly. This was a natural step for Englishmen. The principle of representative government was no way new to them. It had taken root long before in local institutions. The “four men” of each township present in court of hundred or shire spoke , for all their township. The sworn “jurors” of a shire who gave testimony in compiling Domesday Book under William I or “presented” offenders for trial under Henry II or did the many other things the Norman kings called on them to do (p. 285)^ ENGLAND: RISE OF PARLIAMENT 289 spoke for the whole shire. England was familiar with the prac- tice of selecting certain men from a community to speak for the community as a whole. The same principle was now applied in a larger, central gathering, for all England. Then in 1265 the glorious rebel, Simon of Montfort, gave us a real “ Parliament.” He had been leading the people against the weak, ill-ruling Henry III, and had made him prisoner, and now he called a national assembly to settle the government. English Family Dinner. — ■ From a fourteenth-century manuscript. Note the dogs, the musicians, and the barefooted monk, at whom the jester is directing some witticism. Observe, too, that the Norman round arch (p. 282, based upon the Roman) has been superseded by the pointed arch of the Gothic style (p. 304). This time not only was each shire invited to send two knights, but each borough (town) to send two burgesses, to sit with the usual lords. Simon wanted the moral support of the nation, and so he replaced the “Great Council of royal vassals” hy a “ Parliament” representing the whole people. In 1295 after some variations, Edward I adopted this model of Simon’s; and for the first time in history representative government was firmly established for a nation. The Parliaments of 1265 and 1295 290 THE FEUDAL AGE The two “ Houses ” France in the feudal age Growth of the king’s territory Half a century later, Parliament divided into two Houses. At first all sat together. Had this continued, the townsmen would never have secured much voice : they would have been frightened and overawed by the nobles. The result would have been about as bad if the three estates had come to sit separately, as they did in France and Spain. With so many distinct orders, an able king could easily have played off one against the other. But England followed a different course : the great peers, lay and spiritual, who were summoned by individual letters, made a “House of Lords,” while the representative elements — knights of the shire and burgesses, who had been accustomed to act together in shire courts — came together, in the national assembly, as the “ House of Commons.” For Further Reading. — Green’s English People is the best one book on this period. VI. OTHER LANDS IN THE FEUDAL AGE In 987 in France the degenerate Carolingian ^ line gave way to Hugh Capet, founder of the long line of Capetian kings. Hugh Capet found France broken into feudal fragments. These, in the next three centuries, he and his descendants welded into a new French nation. It was not the people here who fused themselves into a nation in a long struggle against royal despotism, as in England : it was the kings who made the French nation, in a long struggle against feudal anarchy within and foreign conquest from without. Philip Augustus (1180-1223) at the opening of his reign ruled directly only one twelfth of modern France — only one sixth as much of it as was then ruled by Henry II of England — and held not one seaport. At the close of his reign Philip ruled directly two thirds of France. The consolidation of the realm was mainly completed by his grandson, Louis IX (St. Louis), and by Louis’ grandson, Philip the Fair (1285-1314). And as the kings won the soil of France piece by piece, so too they added gradually to the royal power, until this Philip 1 The name Carolingian, from Carolus, the Latin form of Charles, is applied to all the rulers of Charlemagne’s line. FRANCE : CONSOLIDATION AND DESPOTISM 291 the Fair and his successors were the most autocratic sovereigns in Europe in their day. France was divided into districts ruled by royal officers. Each such appointed officer, as representative of the king, held vast power, appointing all inferior officers in his district, collecting the royal revenues, and controlling the administration in every detail. These royal officers were chosen from men of humble birth — that they might not aspire too much. The feudal lords had lost all authority except over their serfs and villeins : the small vassals and the townsmen were pro- tected now from their rapacity and capricious tyranny. In England this escape had come, a little earlier, through the courts, the itinerant justices, and the free principles of the common law ; and Englishmen grew to have an instinctive reverence for courts and law as the protectors of liberty. In France the like security came through the despotic power intrusted to their officers by the absolute French kings ; and for centuries French- men came to trust autocracy as Englishmen trusted law. This contrast is shown, in part, in the history of the French institution which most resembled the English Parliament. Philip the Fair completed his reforms by adding respresentatives of the towns to the nobles and clergy in the Great Council of France. This brought together all three “estates”; and the gathering was called the Estates General, to distinguish it from smaller gatherings in the separate provinces. The first meet- ing in this form was held in 1302, only a few years after the “ Model Parliament ” in England. But Philip and his successors used the Estates General only as a convenient taxing machine. It never became a governing body, as the English Parliament did. It lacked root in local custom ; nor did the French people know how to value it. The kings assembled the Estates General only when they chose, and easily controlled it. When they no longer needed it, the meetings grew rarer, and finally ceased, without protest by the people. In Germany the Carolingian line died out even sooner than in France, and then the princes chose a Saxon duke for King of the Germans. The second of these Saxon kings was Otto I Growth of royal power The Estates General Germany in the feudal age 292 THE FEUDAL AGE Expansion to the east False ambi- tion of the German kings Otto and the Holy Roman Empire, 962 Popes and Emperors (936-973). His first great work was to end forever the barbarian inroads. The nomad Hungarians (p. 266) once more broke across the eastern border in enormous numbers. Otto crushed them with horrible slaughter at the battle of Lechfeld. Soon after, the Hungarians adopted Christianity and settled down in modern Hungary. Otto followed up his success. Year by year, he forced farther back the Slavs from his eastern borders, and established “ marks” (a name for a border state) along that whole frontier. On the extreme southeast was the Eastmark (against the Hungarians), to grow into modern Austria, while the Mark of Brandenburg on the northeast (against the Slavs) was to grow into modern Prussia. Now, too, began a new colonizing movement which soon extended Germany from the Elbe to the Oder and carried swarms of German settlers among even the savage Prussians and the Slavs of the heathen Baltic coast. It should have been the work of the German kings to foster this defensive colonization along their barbarous eastern borders, and to fuse the Germans themselves into a true nation. But Otto and his successors were drawn from this work, so well begun, by greedy dreams of wider empire. For half a century the Empire in the West had lapsed. Otto was tempted to restore it — as a mask for seizing upon Italy. That unhappy land had no shadow of union. Saracens from Africa contested the south with the Greek Empire and the Lombards, and the north was devastated by ferocious wars be- tween petty states. Otto invaded Italy, and in 962 had himself consecrated by the pope at Rome as “Emperor of the Romans.” The restored Empire did not include all “Western Europe,” as Charlemagne’s Empire did in its day. France was outside, as were new Christian kingdoms in England, Scandinavia, Poland, and Hungary, As a physical power it rested wholly on German military prowess. And it was “the Holy Roman Empire of the German People.” It claimed to share the headship of Christendom with the papacy. But the relation between Emperors and Popes was not defined ; there followed three centuries of fatal struggle. GERMANY: THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 293 During these three centuries the history of Germany was hound Ruin to both uy with that of Italy. This connection brought to Germany somewhat of the culture and art of the ancient world ; but in government and industry it spelled ruin. Otto was merely the first of a long line of German kings who led splendid German armies across the Alps, to melt away in fever beneath the Italian sun. German strength was frittered away in foreign squabbles, and the chanee to make a German nation was lost for nine hun- dred years. No better were the results to Italy. A German king, however much a “Roman” Emperor, could enter Italy only with a Ger- man army at his back. The southern land was a conquered province, ruled by uncouth northern barbarians. True, at last the Popes won, and expelled the Germans ; but only by calling in Frenchman and Spaniard, and making Italy for centuries more the battle ground and battle prize of Europe. In 1254 the last German ruler was driven from Italy. The The period Empire ceased to he eithe': “Holy” or “Roman.” Thereafter it was wholly German. And even the German kingdom seemed Germany, extinct. For twenty yeers (1254-1273) there was no Emperor, ^^54-1273 and no king, in Germany. This was the period of “Fist- law.” Germany dissolved into more than 300 petty states — “free cities,” duchies, marks, counties. (Cf. maps after pp. 296, 314.) CHAPTER XXXI Moham- medan cul- ture during Europe’s “ Dark Ages ” THE AGE OF THE CRUSADES, 1100-1300 I. THE CRUSADES From 1100 to 1300 a.d., all Western Europe was deeply moved by one common impulse. The Mohammedans (pp. 253-255) still ruled from the Pyrenees to the Ganges. They had utilized the old culture of Persia and of Greece. Their governments were as good as the Oriental world had ever known. Their roads and canals encouraged commerce and bound together distant regions. Their magnificent cities were built with a peculiar and beautiful architecture, characterized by the horse- shoe arch, the dome, the turret, the graceful minaret, and a rich ornament of “arabesque.” Their manufactures were the finest in the world, both for beautiful design and for delicate work- manship. We still speak of “Toledo” blades, and “Morocco” leather, while “muslins” and “damasks” recall their superior processes at Mosul and Damascus. Europe was soon to owe to them these products, with many other things long-forgotten or new, — spices, oranges, lemons, rice, sugar cane, dates, asparagus, sesame, buckwheat, apricots, watermelons, oils, perfumes, calicoes, satins, the crossbow, the windmill. In intellectual lines Arab superiority was no less marked. While Europe had only a few monastic schools to light its “Dark Ages,” the Arabs had great universities, where philos- ophy, theology, law, rhetoric, were subjects of special study. The old Chaldean astrology was becoming true astronomy in the hands of the Arabians of Spain, and the heavens still keep a thick sprinkling of Arabic names, like Aldeharan, while common terms in our texts on astronomy {azimuth, zenith, nadir) bear like testimony. From India the Arabs brought the “Arabic” notation, while Europe was still struggling with 294 CAUSES OF THE CRUSADES 295 clumsy Roman numerals. Algebra and alchemy (chemistry) are Arabic in origin ; and while Europe still treated disease from the viewpoint of an Indian A Byzant (Bezant) . — A gold coin issued by the emperors at Constantinople in the Middle Ages. This coin had a wide circulation, especially from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries, in the coun- tries of Western Europe, where, with the exception of Spain, these lands had no gold currency of their own. “medicine man,” the Sara- cens had established, on Greek foundations, a real science of medicine. But in the eleventh century, polit- ical supremacy in the Mo- hammedan world fell to the Turks, a barbarous Tartar people from beyond the Jaxartes. The Arab cul- ture survived long enough to be transplanted into Europe, but in its own home it was doomed to swift decay. The Turks were mighty soldiers, and they began a new era of Mohammedan conquest. Almost at once the greater part of the Greek Empire fell into their hands. They overran Asia Minor, almost to the gates of Constanti- nople. In terror, the Greek Em- peror turned to Western Christen- dom for aid ; and this appeal was the signal for two centuries of war, “Cross” against “Crescent.” This call for aid against the in- fidel would have produced little effect, however, if Western Europe had not had deep grievances of its own against the Turk. Pilgrim- ages to holy shrines were a leading feature of medieval life. Good men made them to satisfy religious enthusiasm ; evil men, to secure forgiveness for crime ; sick men, to heal bodily ills. A pilgrimage was an act of worship. Chief of all pilgrimages, of course, was The Turkish peril in the East The Greek Empire calls on the West to save it from the Turk The Turks abuse Christian pilgrims 296 THE CRUSADES, 1100-1300 The Crusades Importance of the Crusades Intellectual results Growth of Commerce that to the land where Christ had lived and to the tomb where His body had been laid. The Saracens had permitted these pil- grimages ; but the Turks, when they captured Jerusalem from the Arabs, began at once to persecute all Christians there. Thus began those movements of armed pilgrims which we call the Crusades. Each crusader marched in part to save Eastern Christians, partly to avenge pilgrims from the West; and partly to make his own pilgrimage to the holiest of shrines. Mingled with these motives, too, was the spirit of adventure and the greed for gain in land or gold. From 1096 to almost 1300 there was constant fighting in the East between Christian and Mohammedan. Europe, which in the ninth century had been helpless against plundering heathen bands, had now grown strong enough to pour into Asia for two hundred years a ceaseless stream of mailed knights, with count- less followers. For almost the first half of that period the Chris- tians did hold all or most of the Holy Land, broken into various “Latin” principalities, and defended against the reviving Mo- hammedan power by “Orders” of fighting monks — the Templars, the Knights of St. John, and the Teutonic Order. But at the end, the Mohammedans had expelled Europe wholly from Asia. This was mainly because Europe had outgrown the crusading movement. The Crusades themselves had created a new Europe. Trade had grown, and society was no longer so exclusively made up of fighters. The indirect results of the Crusades were vastly more important than the recovery of Palestine would have been. New energies were awakened ; new worlds of thought opened. The intellectual horizon widened. The crusaders brought back new gains in science, art, architecture, medical skill; and Europe had learned that there was more to learn. Many Oriental products (p. 294) became almost necessaries of life. Some of them were soon grown or manu- factured in Europe. Others, like spices, could not be produced there ; and, in consequence, commerce with distant parts of Asia grew enormously. In the absence of fresh meat in winter and of our modern root-foods (p. 276), spices became of immense AND THEIR RESULTS 297 importance for the table. For a time, Venice and Genoa, assisted by their favorable positions, monopolized much of the new carrying trade ; but all the ports of Western Europe were more or less affected. This commercial activity called for quicker methods of reckoning, and so Europe adopted the Arabic numerals. Money replaced barter. Bankers appeared, alongside the old Jew money-lenders; and coinage increased. All this undermined both the economic and the military basis of feudalism. Money made it unnecessary for the tenant to pay rent in service, and enabled the kings to collect “ taxes,” so as to maintain standing armies. Moreover, the Crusades swept away the old feudal nobility directly. Hundreds of thousands of barons and knights squandered their possessions in preparing for the expedition, and then left their bones in Palestine. The ground was cleared for the rising city democ- racies and the new monarchies. And these two new forces at first were allies. The “third estate” wanted order, and the kings could help secure it. The kings wanted money, and the third estate could supply it. Kings and towns joined hands to reduce feudalism to a form. True, a new nobility grew up — but it had only the honors of the old, without its power. II. RISE OF THE TOWNS, 1100-1300 From 500 to 1100 a.d. the three figures in European life had been the tonsured priest, the mailed horseman, and the field laborer, stunted and bent. In the twelfth century, alongside priest, noble, and peasant there stood out a fourth figure — the sturdy, resolute, self-confident burgher. The age of the Crusades was also the age of the rise of towns. In Italy and southern France, some old Roman towns had lived along, with shrunken population, subject to neighboring- lords. Under the new commercial conditions after 1200, these districts became dotted once more with self-governing cities, with municipal institutions molded, in part at least, upon those brought down from Roman times. Elsewhere the towns were mainly new growths — from peasant villages. Most were Feudalism undermined The towns and the eudal lords Origin of the towns 298 THE RISE OF TOWNS Town charters won in two centuries of revolt Town life in the feudal age small. Very few had more than four or five thousand people. At first each inhabitant of a growing town remained directly dependent upon the town's feudal lord. The first advance toward freedom was to change this individual depend- ence into collective de- pendence. The town demanded the right to “ bargain collectively ” (through its elected officers) with the lord as to services and dues, to be paid by the whole town, not by individ- ual citizens ; and after two centuries of revolt (1100-1300), by stubborn heroism and by wise use of their wealth, they had won charters guaranteeing this and greater privileges. Town life showed new wants, new comforts, new occupations. Thatched hovels, with dirt ffoors, gave way to comfortable, and even stately, burghers’ homes. Universal misery and squalor among the industrial classes were replaced, for a large part of the population, by happy comfort. There followed a lavish expenditure for town halls and cathedrals and for civic feasts and shows. Still, the medieval European city fell far behind the ancient Roman city or the contemporary Arabian city. There were no street lights at night, no city water supply, no sewerage, no street-cleaning, no paving. The necessity of inclosing the town within lofty stone walls crowded it into small space, so that streets were always narrow and dark. Dead animals rotted in these streets ; pigsties or loose swine obstructed them ; and on one occasion in the fifteenth century a German emperor, warmly welcomed in a loyal city, was almost swallowed up, horse and rider, in the bottomless filth. Within doors, too, the material prosperity was not for all. Says Dr. Jessopp, “The sediment Siege op a Medieval Town : the summons to surrender. — From a sixteenth-century copper engraving. PLATE XLV Town Hall (Hdtel de Ville) at Oudenarde, Belgium, built in the thir« teenth century and still in use. See also page 318. PLATE XLVI Old Street in Rouen. — Present condition. Probably the appearance has changed little since the fourteenth century. The Cathedral is visible where the street at its further end opens into the square. AND TOWN LIFE 299 of the town population was a dense slough of stagnant misery, squalor, famine, loathsome disease, and dull despair.” There was no adequate police system, and street fights were constant. At night, no well-to-do citizen stirred abroad with- out his armor and his guard of stout apprentice lads ; and he had to fortify and guard his house at all times. The citizen, how- ever safe from feudal tyranny, lived in bondage to countless necessary but annoying town regulations. When “curfew” rang, he must “cover his fire” and put out lights — a precau- tion against conflagration particularly necessary because of the crowded narrow streets, the flimsy houses, and the absence of fire companies and of adequate water supply. His clothing, and his wife’s, must be no richer than that prescribed for their par- ticular station. He must serve his turn as “watch” in belfry tower, on the walls, or in the streets at night. And in his daily labor he must work and buy and sell only according to the minute regulations of his gild. Each medieval town had its merchant gild and its many craft gilds. These latter were unions of artisans, — weavers, shoe- makers, glovers, bow-makers, drapers, tanners, and so on. They seem to have grown out of the old Roman gilds. York, a small English city of some two or three thousand people, had fifty such gilds. Cologne had eighty. Even the homes of a gild were grouped together. One street was the street of the armorers ; another, of the goldsmiths ; and so on. Each craft gild contained three classes of members, — masters, journeymen, and apprentices. The master owned a shop, — probably part of the house where his family lived, — and employed one or more journeymen, besides a band of appren- tices. Apprentices were boys or youths bound out by their parents for a term of years to learn the trade. They lived in the master’s house, ate at his table, and he furnished their clothing and taught them “all he knew.” After six or seven years, when his term of service was up, the apprentice became a flee journeyman, working for wages. For the next few years he traveled from place to place, practicing his trade in various cities, to see the world and to perfect himself in his “mystery,” Craft and merchant gilds 300 THE RISE OP TOWNS as the secrets of the trade were called. If he could save the small amount of money needed, he finally set up a shop of his own and became a master. Ks a master, he continued to work with his own hands, living among his dependents with a more or less paternal care over them. The gild was not organized, as the modern trade-union is, to regulate the relations of workmen to employers. It was a brotherhood, containing both workmen and employers. Its purposes were (1) to pre- vent competition (and so all who practiced the trade were forced to enter the gild and abide by its rules) ; (2) to prevent monopoly of materials or of opportunity by any of its members (and so each “brother” had a right to share in any pur- chase by another, and no one could sell except at ap- pointed times and places) ; (3) to keep up the price (which was fixed by the gild) ; and (4) to maintain a high standard of goods (and so the gild punished severely all adulterations,, the mixing of poor wool with good, and the giving short weight). Thus the gild aimed to protect both producer and consumer. The gild was also a fraternal insurance society. Moreover, it had social features, and indeed it often originated as a social club for men engaged in the same trade. Throughout the Middle Ages the gild feasts were the chief events in the lives of gild members. For a time it seemed that Europe might be dominated by city leagues, like ancient Greece. The Hanseatic League A Medieval Cooper’s Workshop, from an early sixteenth-century engraving. LEARNING AND ART 301 (eighty North German towns, with “factories” in foreign cities over all North Europe) fought at times with the mightiest kings, and won. Similar unions of free towns appeared in every land. But in Italy, by 1350, nearly every city had fallen under the rule of a tyrant; in France they came completely under the despotic power of the king ; in Germany they became only one more element in the political chaos ; in England they never secured the extreme independence which they possessed for a time in other lands ; Europe moved on to a national life. III. LEARNING AND ART, 1100-1300 The “Dark Ages” (500 to 1100) saw a gleam of promise in Charlemagne’s day, and some remarkable English and Irish schools flourished just before Charlemagne, and again in the day of Alfred. But these were mere points of light in a vast gloom. As a whole, for six hundred years the only schools were those connected with monasteries and cathedrals ; and these aimed only to fit for the duties of the clergy. About 1100, Europe began to stir from this intellectual torpor. Some of the new towns set up trades schools, with instruction in the language of the people ; and in leading cities, in France, Italy, and England, the medieval university appeared. By 1400, fifty universities dotted Europe, some of them with many thousand students. A fifth figure came into European life: alongside peasant, knight, priest, townsman, there moved now in cap and gown the lay student or learned “ doctor,” the forerunner of the modern “professional man.” But the universities did not make good their first promise. The University of Paris, the first medieval university, had grown up about a great teacher, Abelard. Abelard was a fearless seeker after truth. Alone among the scholars of his age, he dared to call “reason” the test of truth, even in the matter of church doctrines. But the church condemned this heresy, and forced the rising unirersities to forswear “ reason” for “ author- ity.” This stifled all inquiry. When the intellectual rebirth of Europe finally came, after those two centuries, it came from outside university walls. Few schools in the “Dark Ages ” Rise of the universities after iioo The universities ruled by tradition, not by reason 302 THE FEUDAL AGE, 1100-1300 The School- men Medieval science The method of reasoning used in the universities is called scholasticism. It was like the reasoning we use in geometry, — deducing a truth from given premises or axioms. This method ignores observation and experiment and investigation, and has no value, by itself, except in mathematics. It has never discovered a truth in nature or in man. The men of the universities {Schoolmen) did not use it in mathematics. They tried to use it by turning it upon their own minds, and their arguments were mainly quibbles upon verbal distinctions. Much Workshop of Etienne Delaulne, a celebrated goldsmith at Paris in the sixteenth century. Drawn and engraved by himself. time they spent in playing with such questions as. How many spirits can dance at one time upon the point of a needle ? The last of the famous Schoolmen was Duns the Scot, who died in 1308. In that day there was no higher praise for a young scholar than to call him “a Duns.” Before many years, when a new scientific method had come in (pp. 324 ff.), the term came to be our “dunce.” A very little “science” crept into Europe by 1200 from the Arabs, mainly in astronomy and chemistry. But the astronomy / LEARNING AND ART 303 was mostly astrology (p. 38). And chemistry (alchemy) was little more than a search for the “philosopher’s stone,” which should change common metals into gold, or for the “elixir of life,” a drink to make man immortal. Both astrologers and alchemists mingled their studies with magic incantations and were generally believed to have sold their souls to the Devil I in return for forbidden knowledge. J No doubt there were many men, whose names we have never A fore- ! heard, who were trying through those weary centuries really j to study into the secrets of nature in a scientific way, by experi- science ' inent. The greatest man of this kind before 1300 was Roger I Bacon, an English Franciscan, While Duns Scotus was admired and courted by all the world, Roger Bacon was living in lone- liness and poverty, noticed only to be persecuted or reviled. ' He spent his life in trying to point out the lacks of the School- I men’s method and to teach true scientific principles. Fourteen i years he lay in dungeons, for his opinions. When at liberty, i he worked devotedly, but under heavy handicaps. More than once he sought all over Europe for a copy of some book he needed — when a modern scholar in like case would need only i to send a note to the nearest bookseller. He wrote upon ' the possibility of reaching Asia by sailing west into the Atlantic. ! He learned much about explosives, and is said to have invented gunpowder. It is believed, too, that he used lenses as a tele- scope. Apparently he foresaw the possibility of using steam as a motive power. Certainly he prophesied that in time i wagons and ships would move “with incredible speed” without horses or sails, and also that man would learn to sail the air. His “Great Work” was a cyclopedia of the knowledge of his time in geography, mathematics, music, and physics. But ! Roger Bacon lived a century too soon for his own good, and found no successful disciples. I j Latin, a mongrel Latin, too, was the sole language of the Literature i university and of learning ; and until 1200, except for the songs gpgggj^ ( of wandering minstrels, it was practically the only language of the people I any kind of literature. About that time, however, in various Art in the Middle Ages 304 THE FEUDAL AGE, 1100-1300 lands popular poetry of a high order began to appear in the lan- guage of everyday speech: the Song of the Cid in Spanish; the love songs of the Troubadours in French and of the Minnesingers in German; the Divine Comedy of Dante in Italian; and, toward 1400, the Canterbury Tales of Chaucer in New English, with Wyclifs translation of the Bible into the same tongue. Classical art was lost, through the Dark Ages, as completely as classical learning. Medieval painting existed only in rude altar pieces, representing stiff samts and Madonnas, where even the flowing draperies could not hide the artist’s ignorance of how to draw the human body. On a minute scale, to be sure, there was some better work. Monks “ illuminated ” missals with tiny brushes in brilliant colors, and sometimes with beauty and delicacy. Architecture, too, was rude until after 1100. But in the twelfth and thirteenth cen- turies, the heavy Roman- esque style gave way to the Gothic, and the world gained one of its wonders in the Gothic cathedral — “a religious aspiration in stone. ’ ’ (See especially the following Plates XLVII, XLVIII, and explana- tions, and also Plate L and page 288.) This device meets the “side-thrust” of the roof, and so permitted the architect to cut out most of the upper wall into the tall windows here shown. These flying buttresses carry that “thrust” to the top of the lower wall (see any of the Cathedral cuts), where in turn it is met, in part, by solid buttresses reaching from the ground wall to the top. These lower buttresses are not in themselves beautiful, though they make possi- ble other beautiful arrangements (see Plates following) ; but the flying buttresses themselves are a strikingly beautiful feature. PLATE XLVII .Rheims Cathedral. — This supremely beautiful example of Gothic archi- tecture (p. 304), dating back almost to the year 1200, was wantonly injured by German shells in the World War. Until 1100, the rather rude architecture of Western Europe was the Romanesque, based upon Roman remains and marked by the round arch and massive walls. The early architects knew no better way to carry the weight of immense stone roofs ; nor did they dare weaken their gloomy walls even by cutting out large win- dows. In the 13th century, that Romanesque style was replaced by a new French style called Gothic. The architect, a better engineer now, had learned two new devices to carry his roofs. (See Plate XLVIII.) PLATE XLVIII The Cathedral, at Metz. — A beautiful example of Gothic architecture, begun in the thirteenth century. (The piles of chairs are interesting as showing the method of seating, even to-day, in European cathedrals, where pews are practially unknown. The cathedrals are open all day, but the chairs are used only during special services.) The weight of the roof is carried by gathering it at certain points, by using converging arches, which rested on groups of mighty pillars. The side thrust upon the walls was met, too, by placing buttresses at critical points. Thus the Gothic architect could use a lighter, more varied, more graceful pointed arch, with tall windows ornamented curiously with tracery (openings in the stonework) and with moldings. He could also use stained glass, since now he had light enough ; and the old round ceilings gave way to vaulted ceilings, where the ribs of converging arches inter- sected one another. The tower, too, with its heaven-pointing spire, replaced the Homan dome. See Plate facing p. 313. I PAKT VII-AGE OF THE EENAISSANOE.. 1300-1500 i CHAPTER XXXn I ENGLAND AND FRANCE, 1300-1500 I We left the story of England with the great Edward, who had the wisdom to adopt and perfect the Parliament of the rebel Simon. In 1327 Parliament ! deposed the weak second Ed- ward. Then the third Edward i began the Hundred Years’ War |- with France (1338-1453). On I the surface, this war was a ! struggle between kings for prestige and territory : but at bottom it was a commercial j struggle. Every country, in that day, shackled foreign mer- 1 chants with absurd restrictions and ruinous tolls. England wanted to sell her wool freely in Flemish towns and to buy Bordeaux wines freely in the south of France; and the easiest way to get access to I these markets seemed to be to conquer France. I The war was waged on i French soil. The English won t brilliant victories, overran France repeatedly, ravaging crops, burning peasant villages, turning the country into a black- 305 A Bombard. — From a sixteenth- century German woodcut. An old chronicler tells us that at Crecy the English had some small “ bom- bards, ” which, with fire and noise like God’s thunder, threw little iron balls to frighten the horses. These first cannons were made by fastening bars of iron together with hoops ; and the powder was very weak. A century later they began to be used to batter down castles and city walls It was longer still before firearms replaced the bow for infantry. The Hundred Years’ War (1338-1453) France ravaged 306 THE RENAISSANCE AGE, 1300-1500 Battle of Crecy, 1346 The Black Death And the decay of serfdom in England ened desert in the usual fashion of warfare in those chivalrous days, and bringing home much plunder — robes, furs, feather beds, kitchen utensils, some rich plate, and some coin from the ransom of “noble” prisoners. The whole century of horrible and meaningless slaughter had just one gleam of promise for the future world. This was given by the battle of Crecy. An Eng- glish army was trapped apparently by five times their num- ber. But the English yeomen — men of the six-foot bow and yard-long shafts feathered from gray-goose wings — coolly faced the ponderous mass of French knights, repulsed charge after charge of that gallantest chivalry of Europe, and won back for the world the long-lost equality of the footman with the feudal horseman in war (1346). For a time, toward 1400, the war languished because pesti- lence was slaying men faster than steel could. The Black Death, most famous of famous plagues, had been devastating the continent for years, moving west from Asia. At least a third of the population of Europe was carried off by it. Then, in the year after Crecy, the returned victors brought it to Eng- land, where, almost at a blow, it swept away half the nation. This loss fell most heavily of course upon the working classes, but it helped those left alive to rise out of serfdom, — a move- ment already well under way there. The lack of labor doubled wages, too, and so brought in a higher standard of living. True, Parliament tried, in the interest of the landlords, to keep down the labors by foolish and tyrannical laws, — for- bidding them to leave the parish where they lived or to take more wages than had been customary in the past, and ordering them under cruel penalties to serve any one who offered them such wages. There were many individual cases, too, of bitter tyranny, where some lord, by legal trickery or by outright violence, forced half-freed villeins back into serfdom. Thus among the peasants there was long smoldering a fierce and just discontent. Another set of causes fanned this discontent into flame. The huge wealth of the church and the worldliness of the greater clergy were becoming a common scandal. Even the gentle ENGLAND AND FRANCE 307 Chaucer (p. 304), court poet though he was, wrote in keen raillery of these faults. More serious and less happy men could not dismiss them with a jest. The priest, John Wyclif, a famous lecturer at the University of Oxford, preached vigorously against such abuses, and finally attacked even some central teachings of the church. He denied the doctrine of transubstantiation,^ and insisted that even ignorant men might know the will of God, through the Bible, without priestly intervention. Accord- ingly, with his companions, he made the first complete transla- tion of the Bible into English ; and his disciples wrote out many copies (printing was still a century in the future) and distrib- uted them throughout the land. These disciples called themselves “poor preachers.” Their enemies called them “Lollards” (babblers). Some of them exaggerated their master’s teachings against wealth, and called for the abolition of all rank and property. John Ball, one of these “mad preachers,” attacked the privileges of the gentry in rude rhymes that rang through England from shore to shore, — “When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman?” “This priest,” says Froissart, a contemporary chronicler, “used often- times to go and preach when the people in the villages were coming out from mass ; and he would make them gather about him, and would say thus : ‘ Good people, things go not well in England, nor will, till every- thing be in common and there no more be villeins and gentlemen. By what right are they whom we call lords greater folk than we ? We be all come from one father and one mother, Adam and Eve, . . . but they are clothed in velvet and are warm in their furs, while we shiver in rags ; they have wine, and spices, and fair bread ; and we, oat cake and straw, and water to drink ; they dwell in fine houses, and we have the pain and travail, the rain and the wind in the fields. From our labor they keep their state? Yet we are their bondmen; and unless we serve them readily, we are beaten.’ And so the people would murmur one with the other in the fields, and in the ways as they met together, affirming that John Ball spoke truth.” In 1377 Edward’s grandson, Richard II, came to the throne as a mere boy; and, while the government was in confusion, 1 That at the Mass the bread and wine were changed miraculously into the very flesh and blood of Christ. Wyclif and the Lollards John Ball 308 THE RENAISSANCE AGE, 1300-1500 The Peasant Rising of 1381 Wat the Tyler and England in this seething discontent, Parliament passed a heavy poll tax, bearing unfairly upon the poor. This match set the realm ablaze — in the “ Peasant Rising of 1381.” With amazing suddenness, from all sides, the peasants, rudely armed, marched upon London ; and in a few days the king and kingdom were in their hands. The special demand of the peasantry was that all labor-rents should be changed into fixed money rents. They sacked some castles and manor houses, destroying the “manor rolls” (the written evidence of services due on the estate) ; and they put to death a few nobles and their lawyer tools. Women and children An English Carriage of the Fourteenth Century. — After Jusserand’s English Wayfaring Life; from a fourteenth-century psalter. This carriage is represented as drawn by five horses tandem, driven by two postilions. Such a carriage was a princely luxury, equaling in value a herd of from four hundred to sixteen hundred oxen. were nowhere injured, and there was no attempt at general pillage and massacre, such as usually go with servile insurrec- tions in other lands. The revolt was marked hy the moderation of men who had a reasonable program of reform. Unhappily the peasants lacked organization. Their chief leader, Wat the Tyler, was murdered treacherously, in a con- ference — “ under a flag of truce” as we would say. “ Kill ! ” shouted Wat’s followers; “they have murdered our captain!” But the young Richard rode forward fearlessly to their front. “ What need ye, my masters ! ” he called ; “ I am your king and captain.” “We will that you free us forever,” shouted the peasant army, “ us and our land ; and that we be never more named serfs.” “I grant it,” replied the boy; and by such ENGLAND AND FRANCE 309 pledges and by promise of free pardon he persuaded them to go home. For days a force of thirty clerks was kept busy writing out brief charters containing the king’s promises. But when the peasants had scattered to their villages, bear- ing to each one a copy of the king’s treacherous charter, the property classes rallied and took a bloody vengeance. Parlia- ment declared, indeed, that Richard’s promise was void, because he could not give away the gentry’s property — the services due them — without their consent. Richard caught gladly at this excuse. Quite willing to dishonor his word to mere villeins, he marched triumphantly through England at the head of forty thousand men, stamping out all hope of another rising by ruth- less execution of old leaders. Seven thousand men were put to death in cold blood. The men of Essex met him with copies of his charters, declaring that they were free Englishmen. “Villeins you were,” answered Richard, “and villeins you are. In bondage you shall abide ; and not your old bondage, but a worse.” None the less, the emancipation began again soon with fresh force; and, by 1450, villeinage had passed away in England. The growth of Parliament during the Hundred Years’ War was almost as important as the rise of the peasants out of bond- age. Constant war made it necessary for Edward III and his successors to ask for many grants of money. Parliament supplied the king generously ; but it took advantage of his needs to secure new powers. (1) It established the principle that “redress of grievances” must precede a “grant of supply” and at last transformed its “petitions” for such redress into “bills.” (2) In the closing years of Edward III the Good Parliament (1376) “impeached” and removed his ministers, using the forms that have been com- mon in impeachments ever since in English-speaking countries. And (3) when Richard II tried to overawe Parliament with his soldiery, England rose against him, and the Parliament of 1399 deposed him, electing a cousin (Henry of Lancaster) in his place. (4) In the first quarter of the fifteenth century, under the Lan- The upper- class treachery and revenge Growth of Parlia- ment’s power 310 THE RENAISSANCE AGE, 1300-1500 Liberties of Englishmen castrian Henrys (IV, V, VI), the House of Commons made good its claims that all money bills must originate with it, and (5) secured the right to judge of the election of its own members. (6) Parliament repeatedly compelled the king to dismiss his ministers and appoint new ones satisfactory to it, and (7) sev- eral times fixed the succession to the throne. (8) Freedom of speech in Parliament and freedom from arrest, except by the order of Parliament itself, became recognized privileges of all members. Thus under the Lancastrians there was established in the breasts of the English middle classes a proud consciousness of The Parliament of 1399, which deposed Richard II. — From a contem- porary manuscript. The faces are probably portraits. English liberty as a precious inheritance. With right they believed it superior to that possessed by any other people of the time. Wrote Sir John Fortescue, Chief Justice under Henry VI, in his In Praise of the Laws of England, for the instruction of Henry’s son : “A king of England at his pleasure cannot make any alteration in the laws of the land without the consent of his subjects, nor burden them against their wills with strange impositions. . . . Rejoice, therefore, my good Prince, that such is the law of the kingdom you are to inherit. ENGLAND AND FRANCE 311 because it will afford both to you and to your subjects the greatest security and satisfaction. . . . [The king] is appointed to protect his subjects in their lives, properties, and laws. For this end he has the delegation of power from the people, and he has no just claims to any other power.” Then came the ruinous Wars of the Roses in England. This civil war was not merely a struggle for power between rival lords as Shakspere pictures it: in large measure, it was the final battle between the old feudal spirit, strong in the north of England, and the towns, strong in the south. The towns won. The remnants of the old no- bility were swept away in battle or by the headsman’s ax. But the middle classes were not yet ready to grasp the government, and the fruits of victory fell for a time to the new Tudor monarchs, Henry VII and Henry VIII. These rulers were more absolute than any preceding English kings. England entered the modern period under a “New Monarchy.” Still these Tudors were not ^‘divine-right” monarchs; and they were shrewd enough to cloak their power under the old constitutional forms — and so did not challenge popular op- position. True they called Parliament rarely — and only to use it as a tool. But the occasional meetings, and the way in which the kings seemed to rule through it, saved the forms of constitutional government. At a later time, life was again breathed into those forms. Then it became plain that, in crushing the feudal forces,* the New Monarchy had paved the way for a parliamentary government more complete than men had dreamed of in earlier times. Guy’s Towee, — the Keep op War- wick Castle : the Earl of Warwick was a prominent leader in the Wars of the Roses. Read Bulwer’s Last of the Barons. The Wais of the Roses, 1454-147: The “ New Monarchy ” of the Tudors The forms of free government saved France came out of the Hundred Years’ War, after unspeakable suffering among the poor and after vast destruction of property. 312 • THE RENAISSANCE AGE, 1300-1500 French monarchy strength- ened with territory consolidated, with a new patriotism binding her people into one (a patriotism that had blossomed in Joan of Arc, the peasant girl liberator of her country), and with her kings stronger than ever. Her industrious peasantry, not for the last time, amazed Europe by their rapid restoration of prosperity in a wasted land. Louis XI (1461-1483) kept a small but efficient standing army, with a train of artillery that could easily batter the castle of any feudal rebel about his ears. His reign left France the most powerful single state in Europe. For Further Reading. — Green’s English People continues to be the most desirable general narrative. Lanier’s The Boy's Froissart gives an entertaining contemporary story of the period. Jessopp’s Coming of the Friars pictures the desolation of the Black Death. Clemens’ (“Mark Twain’s”) Joan of Arc is history in a novel’s form. PLATE XLIX Joan of Arc relieving Orleans from the besieging English. This unschooled French peasant girl heard divine “voices,” she was persuaded, calling her to free her country from the English invader. How she did this may best be read in Mark Twain’s Joan of Arc. This painting portrays an early victory which roused the French people from their despair to follow the “Holy Maid of Orleans.” Finally, when her work was really done, Joan fell into English hands and was burned as a witch, after a trial marked by her gentle firmness and purity and heroic endurance. History places her foremost among French heroes ; and recently (May, 1920) she was canonized by Pope Benedict XV. PLATE L Salisbury Cathedral, a fine example of early English Gothic, 1200-1250. (The glorious elms of the Cathedral Close are now gone — cut for lumber during the World War.) The stone spire rises 404 feet from the ground. To carry such immense weight was a great engineering problem. Cf. text at bottom of Plates XLVII, XLVIII, to see how such problems were solved in this new style of architecture. Toward the extreme right one side of the cloisters is just visible (cf. p. 288) . CHAPTER XXXIII OTHER STATES FROM 1300 TO 1500 Meantime the papacy was losing power. About 1300, both England and France challenged the papal overlordship in mat- ters of government. (Neither questioned the pope’s authority in religious matters.) The kings needed more revenue, and were try- ing to introduce systems of national taxation — in place of the outgrown feudal revenues. The clergy had been exempt from feudal services ; but they owned so much of the wealth of the two countries that the kings insisted upon their paying their share of the new taxes. Pope Boniface VIII (1296) issued a bull forbidding any prince to impose taxes on the clergy without papal consent, and threatening excommunication against all clergy who paid. But when the English clergy, trusting in this decree, refused to pay taxes, Edward I outlawed them until they submitted. In France Philip the Fair (p. 290) forbade any payment to the pope, and arrested the papal legate. Boniface threatened to depose the king. A few days later, a company of French soldiers made Boniface prisoner; and the chagrin of the old man at the insult probably hastened his death (1303). Philip then secured the election of a French pope, who removed the papal capital from Rome to Avignon, in southern France. Here the popes remained for seventy years (1309-1377), in “the Babylonian Captivity of the church.” Of course the papacy lost public respect. It was no longer an impartial umpire. Politically it had sunk into a mere tool of the French kings, and the enemies of France could not be expected to show it rever- ence. In Italy, too, the Papal States themselves fell into anarchy, and there was danger that the popes might lose that principality. The conflict in France “ The Babylonian Captivity ” 313 314 THE RENAISSANCE AGE, 1300-1500 Rival “ popes ” The Lollard heresy The Hussite heresy The Council of Con- stance, 1414 In 1377, to save the papal territory, Gregory XI visited Rome. This act brought on a greater disaster even than the exile itself. Gregory died while at Rome. The cardinals were obliged at once to choose a successor. They were Frenchmen (as all high church offices had been given to Frenchmen during the scandal of the Captivity) ; but even French cardinals did not dare disregard the savage demands of the people of Rome for an Italian pope, and so they chose Urban VI. Urban estab- lished himself in the old papal seat at Rome ; but, a few months later, the cardinals assembled again, declared that the choice of Urban was void because made under compulsion, and elected a French pope, Clement VII, who promptly returned to Avignon. Urban and Clement excommunicated each other, each devot- ing to the devil all the supporters of the other. Which pope should good Christians obey? The answer was determined mainly by political considerations. France obeyed Clement; England and Germany obeyed Urban. This condition encouraged other disunion movements. The Wyclif movement in England (p. 307) took place toward the close of the exile at Avignon. The church declared Wyclif a heretic ; but he was protected during his life by one of King Edward’s sons. Soon after Wyclif’s death, however, the Lan- castrian monarchs began to persecute his followers. In 1401, for the first time, an Englishman was burned for heresy, and the Lollards finally disappeared. But meantime, the seeds of the heresy had been scattered in a distant part of Europe. Richard II of England married a princess of Bohemia, and some of her attendants carried the teachings of Wyclif to the Bohemian Univer- sity of Prague. About 1400, John Hus, a professor at Prague, be- came a leader in a radical “ reform” much after Wyclif’s example, and the movement spread rapidly over much of Bohemia. Great and good men everywhere, especially in the powerful universities, began now to call for a General Council as the only means to restore unity of church government and doctrine ; and finally one of the popes called the Council of Constance (1414). Five thousand delegates were present, representing all Chris- tendom. With recesses, the Council sat for four years. It THE CHURCH AND THE PAPACY 315 induced one pope to resign his office, and it deposed the other claimants. Then it restored unity by electing a new pope, Martin V, to rule from Rome. Next the Council turned its attention to restoring church doctrine. John Hus was present, under a “safe conduct” from the Emperor. His teachings were declared heresy ; but neither persuasion nor threats could move him to recant. “ It is better for me to die,” he said, “than to fall into the hands of the Lord by deserting the truth.” Despite the Emperor’s solemn pledge for his safety, Hus was burned at the stake, and his ashes were scattered in the Rhine (1415). Then Wyclif’s doctrines, too, were condemned ; and, to make thorough work, [ his ashes were disinterred from their resting place and scattered j on the river Swift. i These vigorous measures did not wholly succeed. Hus I became a national hero to Bohemia. That country rose in I arms against the church. A crusade was preached against 1 the heretics, and years of cruel war followed ; but some survivals of Hussite teachings lasted on into the period of the Protestant Revolt a century later. The papacy never regained its earlier authority over kings. Nicholas V (1447) showed himself a learned scholar, eager to advance learning, as well as a pure and gentle man. Pius II (1455) strove to arouse a new crusade against the Turks, who had at last captured Constantinople ; I but his complete failure proved (in his own words) that Europe I “looked on pope and emperor alike as names in a story.” Some I of the succeeding popes, like the notorious Borgia (Alexander VI, 1492-1503), were busied mainly as Italian princes, building [ up their temporal principality by intrigue and craft such as j was common at that day in Italian politics. The “ Holy Roman Empire,” it has been explained, had come i to mean merely Germany. The anarchy of the “Fist-law” ; period was ehecked in 1273 by the election of Rudolph of Haps- I burg as Emperor. Rudolph was a petty count of a rude district ; in the Alps (“Hawks’ nest”), and the princes had chosen him because they thought him too weak to rule them. The king of The last popes of the Middle Ages Germany and the Hapshurgs 316 THE RENAISSANCE AGE, 1300-1500 Spain at the end of the Middle Ages Bohemia, indeed, refused to recognize him as Emperor. Ru- dolph attacked Bohemia, and seized from it the duchy of Aus- tria, which until recently has remained the chief seat of the Hapsburgs. In other ways he showed the now-familiar Haps- burg zeal to widen his personal domain. “Sit firm on Thy throne, O Lord,” prayed one bishop, “or the Count of Hapsburg will shove Thee off.” After R.udolph’s death, the princes of the Empire (the Elec- toral College) passed the throne from family to family — until, in 1438, after a long line of Bohemian rulers, the imperial dig- nity came back to the Hapsburgs by the election of Albert, Duke of Austria. From this time, so long as the title endured, the “Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire” was of the House of Austria, and election became a form only. Maximilian I (1493-1519), the one romantic hero of the Hapsburg race, made a noble effort to bring Germany abreast of England and France. In the end he failed utterly, and Germany entered the Modern Age a loose confederacy of many petty sovereign states grouped about Austria. The Mohammedan invasion of 711 (p. 254), separated the development of Spain from that of the rest of Europe. For centuries, “Africa began at the Pyrenees.” The wave of Moorish invasion, however, left unconquered a few resolute Christian chiefs in the remote -fastnesses of the northwestern mountains, and in these districts several little Christian principalities began the long task of winning back their land, crag by crag and stream by stream. This they accom- plished in eight hundred years of war, — a war at once patriotic and religious, Spaniard against African, and Christian against Infidel. The long struggle left the Spanish race proud, brave, warlike, unfitted for industrial civilization, intensely patriotic, and blindly devoted to the church. During the eight centuries of conflict, the Christian states spread gradually to the south and east, — waxing, fusing, splitting up into new states, uniting in kaleidoscopic combina- tions by marriage and war, — until, before 1400, they had PLATE LI Illustration from a Fifteenth Century Manuscript, showing in the foreground Maximilian of Austria, Mary of Burgundy, and their son Philip (p. 320). The original is in colors. PLATE LII Church of St. Sophia, Constantinople, built by Justinian upon the site of an earlier church of the same name by Constantine. The whole interior is lined with costly, many-colored marbles. The interior view shows only a part of the vast dome, with eighteen of the forty windows which run about its circumference of some 340 feet. In 1453 the building became a Mohammedan mosque Cp. 317). (The pointed minarets adjoin- ing are Saracenic.) SPAIN — THE TURKS 317 formed the three countries, Portugal, Aragon, and Castile. Nearly a century later, the marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon united the two larger states, and in 1492 their combined power captured Granada, the last Moorish stronghold. In the year that Columbus discovered America under Spanish auspices, Spain at home achieved national union and national independence. During the next two reigns, the Spanish monarchy, financed by the treasures of Mexico and Peru, became the most absolute in Europe. While the civilized Mohammedan Moors were losing Spain, barbarous Mohammedan Turfcs were gaining southeastern Europe. They established themselves on the European side of the Helles- pont first in 1346. Constantinople held out for a century more, a Christian island encompassed by seas of Mohammedanism. But at Kossova (1389), the Turks completed the overthrow of the Serbs, and a few years later a crushing defeat was inflicted upon the Hungarians and Poles. Then, in 1453, Mahomet the Conqueror enteredi Constantinople through the breach where the heroic Constantine Palaeologus, last of the Greek emperors, died sword in hand. The Turks, incapable of civilization, always remained a hostile army eneamped among subject Christian populations, whom their rule blighted. After 1453, Constantinople was the capital of their empire. That empire continued to expand for a century more (until about 1550), and for a time it seemed as though nothing could save Western Europe. Venice on sea, and Hun- gary .by land, were long the two chief outposts of Christendom, and, almost unaided, they kept up ceaseless warfare to check the Mohammedan invaders. For a time, Hungary was conquered, and then Austria became the bulwark for Western Europe. The Netherlands (Low Countries) did not form an independent state in the Middle Ages. They were made up of a group of provinces, part of them fiefs of the Empire, part of them French fiefs. The southern portion has become modern Belgium ; the northern part, modern Hollaiid. The land is a low, level tract, and in the Middle Ages it was more densely packed with teeming The Turks and south- eastern Europe The Netherlands 318 THE RENAISSANCE AGE, 1300-1500 Trade and manufac- tures cities than any other part of Europe. The inhabitants were a sturdy, independent, slow, industrious, persistent people. Ghent claimed eighty thousand citizens able to bear arms, while Ypres is said to have employed two hundred thousand people in the weaving of cloth. Wealth so abounded that the “counts” of this little district excelled most of the kings of Europe in magnificence. , Many of the cities, like Rotterdam and Amsterdam, were built on land wrested from the sea by dikes, and they took Hall of the Clothmakers’ Gild at Ypres. — Begun, 1200; finished, 1364; destroyed by the Germans in the World War. naturally to commerce. In their markets, the merchants from Italy and the south of Europe exchanged wares with the Hansa merchants of the Baltic. And the Netherland towns were workshops even more than they were trading rooms. “ Nothing reached their shores,” says one historian, “but received a more perfect finish : what was coarse and almost worthless, became transmuted into something beautiful and good.” Matthew Paris, a thirteenth-century English chronicler, exclaimed that “ the whole world was clothed in English wool manufactured in Flanders” THE “LOW COUNTRIES” 319 During the Hundred Years’ War, the dukes of Burgundy became masters of Flanders. When Louis XI of France (p. 312) seized the rest of Burgundy from its last duke, Charles the Bold, the Flemish towns wisely chose to remain faithful to Mary, the daughter of Charles. Mary married the young Maximilian of Hapsburg (p. 316), and the Netherlands 'passed to the House of Austria. The rise of “monarchic states” is the political change that marks the close of the Middle Ages. At the moment it seemed a disaster to many great and good men, like the Italian Dante, who had their minds fixed on the old ideal of a united Christen- dom. But, since the days of the old Roman empire, Europe had never known a true union.' The real mission of each of the new monarchies, whether the monarchs saw it yet or not, was to weld all the classes within its land into one people with a common patriotism. We have noted the rise of new powerful monarchies in Eng- land, France, Spain, and Austria. Like governments had ap- peared in Hungary, Bohemia, Sweden, Denmark, and Poland. Two small lands, Switzerland and the Netherlands, were loosely connected with the Austrian Hapsburg monarchy. Two great lands had no part in the movement : until 1250, Germany and Italy had been the center of interest ; but their claim for universal rule had left them broken in fragments. Not for centuries were they to reach this new form of united monarchic government. Leadership, therefore, passed from them to France, Spain, and England, — the three countries in which the new movement was most advanced. In Italy, soon after 1250 the city republics (p. 300) fell under the rule of “tyrants”; and by 1450 the many petty divisions had been brought under one or another of “ Five Great States ” — the Kingdom of Sicily, the Papal States, Milan, Florence, and Venice. Then France and Spain waged wars for the mastery of these; and Spain was left mistress of Sicily and Naples. Now swift steps brought the Hapsburg power within sight of a world-monarchy. Ferdinand of Aragon had married one daugh- The “ New Monarch- ies ” in Europe France and Spain in Italy 320 THE RENAISSANCE AGE, 1300-1500 The danger of a world- despotism Failure of Charles ter to the young English prince soon to become Henry VIII, and another to Philip of Hapsburg, son of the Emperor Maxi- milian and Mary of Burgundy (p. 319). From this last mar- riage, in 1500, was born a child, Charles. Philip had been ruler of the Netherlands through his mother, Mary; and his earl}^ death left those rich districts to Charles while yet a boy. In 1516 Charles also succeeded his grandfather, Ferdinand, as king of Sicily and Naples and as king of Spain, with the gold-pro- ducing realms in America that had just become Spain’s. Three years later he succeeded his other grandfather, Maximilian, as the hereditary ruler of Austria, with its many dependent provinces. Then, still a boy of nineteen, Charles became a candidate for the title of Emperor, which Maximilian’s death had left vacant; and his wealth (or that of his Flemish mer- chants) enabled him to win against his rivals Francis of France and Henry VIII of England. Thus Charles I of Spain, at twenty, became also Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and for a while it seemed possible that he might more than restore the empire of the first great Charles (Charlemagne). Compact France, at first, was his only obstacle ; and no time was lost by Charles and the French Francis I in joining battle. The battle of Pavia left Francis a captive, and France apparently at the Hapsburg’s feet. But just then (1520) an obscure monk in Germany burned a papal bull and started a movement which split Germany and Europe at once into opposing camps, and rendered forever vain the dream of restoring the old imperial unity of Christendom. When a world union comes, we see now, it is to come as a union of free peoples. We must turn back once more to note the intellectual change that ended the Middle Ages and prepared the way for that revolt within the church. CHAPTER XXXIV THE RENAISSANCE, 1300-1500 The five hundred years from 800 to 1300 make up the Age of Feudalism. The* first three centuries (800-1100) were a continuation of the “Dark Ages” of the barbarian invasion, after the brief interruption by Charlemagne. In those gloomy three hundred years we noted the grim feudal system at its height, the medieval church, serf labor, the destructive strife between empire and papacy, and, at the close, the Norman conquest of England. The year 1100 was the threshold over which we passed from those centuries of gloom to two centuries of fruitful progress. That Age of the Crusades saw also the rise of towns, of univer- sities, of popular literatures, of Gothic architecture in cathe- drals and town halls, of the growth of France out of feudal fragments into one kingdom, and of the rise of courts and of Parliament in England. The year 1300 introduced two centuries of still more rapid advance. The period 1300-1 5 W we call the Age of the Renais- sance, because those centuries are marked by a “rebirth” of a long- forgotten way of looking at life. That old way had expressed itself in the art and literature of the ancient Greeks. Accord- ingly, the men of the new age were passionately enthusiastic over all remains of the old classical period. The fundamental characteristic of the Renaissance, however, was not its devotion to the past, but its joyous self -trust in the present. The men of the Renaissance cared for the ancient culture because they found there what they themselves thought and felt. Between those classical times and the fourteenth century there had intervened centuries of very different life — which we have been studying. Those “Middle Ages” had three marks on the intellectual side. (1) Ignorance was general ; and 321 The periods within the feudal age (I) The Dark Ages (2) The Crusades The age of the Ren- aissance Relation to “ Ancient ” culture The Ren- aissance and the feudal age 322 THE RENAISSANCE The Ren- aissance begins in Italy even the learned followed slavishly in the footsteps of some intellectual master. ,(2) Man as an individual counted for little : in all his activities he was part of some gild or order or corporation. (3) Interest in the future life was so intense that many good men neglected the present life. Beauty in nature was little regarded, or regarded as a temptation of the devil. — The Renaissance changed all this. (1) For blind obedience to authority, it substituted the free inquiring way in which the Ancients had looked at things. (2) Meii developed new self- reliance and self-confidence, and a fresh and lively originality. And (3) they awoke to delight in fiower and sky and mountain, in the beauty of the human body, in all the pleasures of the natural world. This transformation — one of the two or three most wonder- ful changes in all history — began first in Italy. It was well over in that land by 1550 ; while it hardly began in England un- til 1500, and there it lasted through Shakspere’s age, to about 1600. Ital}^ was the natural home for a revival in literature and art. Vergil had been read by a few Italian scholars all down the Middle Ages. The Italian language was nearer the Latin than any other European language was, and more manuscripts^ of the ancient Roman writers survived in Italy than else- where in Western Europe. Thus the Italian Petrarch (1304- 1374) stands out the first great champion of the coming age. His graceful sonnets are a famous part of Italian poetry, but his real work was as a tireless critic of the medieval system. He attacked vehemently the superstitions and false science of the day ; he ridiculed the universities, with their blind reverence for “authority,” as “nests of gloomy ignorance.” And he did more than destroy. He, and his disciples after him, began enthusiastic search for classical manuscripts and other remains, to recover what the ancients had possessed of art and knowl- edge, and so brought back the study of Greek to Italy. After 1400, the increasing peril from the Turk (and the high prices paid by princely Italian collectors) led many Greek scholars to flee from the East with precious manuscripts. And PLATE LIII Above. — Ca d’Oro, a Venetian Palace built in the thirteenth century. Below. — The Palace op the Doges {Ducal Palace) at Venice. Vene- tian architecture was based upon the Romanesque, modified by the Saracenic from the south and east and by the Gothic from the north and west. Cf. St. Marks, facing p. 322. PLATE LIV St. Mark’s, Venice. — Ruskin calls this the “central building of the world.” Do you find any explanation for that strong phrase in the comment on Venetian architecture on Plate LIII? IN THE NORTH: ERASMUS 323 when Constantinople fell, Greek learning “emigrated to Italy.” Soon the new enthusiasm for the classics {humanism) captured even the universities — which at first withstood it fiercely. Painting and sculpture were reborn, with the rebirth of delight in life. Italian painting culminated in the years from 1470 to 1550. To these eighty years belongs the work of Leonardo da Vinci, Michael Angelo, Perugino, Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Correggio. A little later came the great periods of Dutch and Spanish painting. (The new development in this art in all these lands was made possible, of course, by new meth- ods of preparing oil paints, invented by the Van Eycks in Hol- land, so that it was possible to paint upon canvas, instead of only upon walls and ceilings.) In the north of Europe the ' Renais- sance was religious and scientific rather than artistic. A little before 1500, the “ New Learning” from Italy was welcomed by an enthusiastic group of young scholars in England, known as the “ Oxford Reformers.” In Italy, Petrarch and his followers had started the new science of “historical criticism,” — a careful study of old and corrupted documents to find out their original form and true meaning. The Oxford Reformers developed this science into a means of correcting evils and errors that had crept into religion. This was especially true of Erasmus, a Hollander living in Renais- sance art in Italy The religious and scien- tific Renais- sance in the North 324 THE RENAISSANCE Erasmus, 1466-1536 Sir Thomas More Inventions bring a new age England. In 1516 he published the New Testament in the original Greek, with a careful Latin translation, and with criti- cal notes. Now, for the first time, ordinary scholars could test the accuracy of the common translation (the Vulgate) in use in the church. Afterward Erasmus edited the writings of many early Christian Fathers, to show the character of early Christianity. In another sort of works, as in his Praise oj Folly, Erasmus lashed the false learning and foolish methods of the monks and Schoolmen. He has been called “ the Scholar of the Reformation.” But Erasmus did not break away from the great mother church. Instead, he worked, with beautiful charity and patience and largeness of view, for reform within it. Another leader of the Oxford Reformers was Sir Thomas More, one of the noblest Englishmen of any age. He was a distinguished scholar — his learning brightened by a gentle and pervading humor — and a man of great personal charm. In the year that Erasmus published his Greek Testament, More issued his Description of the Republic of Utopia (“Nowhere”). He portrays, with burning sympathy, the miseries of the English peasantry, and points accusingly to the barbarous social and political conditions of his time by contrasting with them the conditions in “Nowhere” — where the people elect their gov- ernment (which accordingly is devoted solely to their welfare)., possess good homes, work short hours, enjoy absolute freedom of speech, high intellectual culture, and universal happiness, with all property in common. Utopia was the first of the many modern attempts to picture, in the guise of fiction, an ideal state of society. More immediate and direct influence upon the mighty change to a new age came from a number of new inventions that be- long to the Renaissance movement. The telescope revealed other worlds in the heavens. The mariner’s compass enabled Columbus to discover a New World on the old earth. Gun- powder (p. 305), which found its first serious use in the wars between Charles V and Francis I, gave the final blow to dying feudalism. And printing did more to create a new society PRINTING AND DISCOVERY 325 than gunpowder could to destroy the old. Two of these new movements call for special notice. 1. Early medieval manuscripts were all written on 'parch- ments. These were costly and hard to obtain in any desirable quantity. About 1300, to be sure, a cheaper paper was intro- duced by the Saracens ; but all books had still to be written by the pen. Soon after 1400, engravers began to make the re- production of books cheaper by engraving each page on a block of wood (as the Chinese seem to have done centuries earlier). This was still costly. But now, about 1450, John Gutenberg, at Mainz, found out how to “ cast ” separate metal type in molds. This invention of movable type reduced the price of books at once to a twentieth their old cost. It came, too, at a happy moment. It preserved the precious works recovered by the Humanists ; and soon it was to spread broadcast the new thought of the Reformation. 2. The ancients had played with the notion of sailing around the earth. Aristotle speaks of “persons” who held that it might be possible ; and Strabo, a Roman geographer, suggested that one or more continents might lie in the Atlantic between Europe and Asia. But during the Middle Ages men had come to believe that the known habitable earth was bounded on all sides by an uninhabitable and untraversable world, — on the north by snow and ice, on the south by a fiery zone, on the west by watery wastes stretching down an inclined plane, up which men might not return, and on the east by a dim land of fog and fen, the abode of strange and terrible monsters. The Indian Ocean, too, was thought to be a lake, encompassed by the shores of Asia and Africa. These false views had been partly corrected by a better geographical knowledge of Asia, gained in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Louis IX of France sent Friar Rubruk as ambassador to the court of the Tartar Khan in central Asia'*^(1264 a.d.) ; and the friar on his return reported that he had heard of a navigable ocean east of Cathay (China), with a marvelously wealthy island, Zipango (Japan). This rumor made a leap in men’s thought. Friar Bacon in New geographi- cal discover- ies 326 THE RENAISSANCE Discoveries of Henry the Navigator England (p. 303) at once raised the question whether this east- ern ocean might not be the same as the one that washed Europe on the west and whether men might not reach Asia by sailing west into the Atlantic. Indeed, Bacon wrote a book to support these conjectures, adding many opinions of the Ancients; and extensive extracts from this volume were copied into a later book, which was to become a favorite of Columbus. Such speculation implies that scholars understood the sphericity of the earth. Saracenic schools had preserved the old Greek knowledge in this matter, and some European thinkers had been familiar with it, even in the “Dark Ages.” Now this became more than a curious question. The Cru- sades, we have seen, had given a new impulse to trade with the Orient, but in the fifteenth century, the progress of the Turks threatened the old trade routes. Constantinople, the Monk Tekoh.no the Geobe,~h emporium for the route by the illustration in a thirteenth-century Black Sea, fell into their hands, manuscript. their power crept farther south in Asia, endangering the remaining route by the Red Sea. Under these circumstances the question was forced home to Europe whether or not a new route could he found. The Portuguese, under Prince Henry the Navigator, had already been engaged in building up a Portuguese empire in Africa and in the islands of the Atlantic (Azores, Canary, and Verde and about 1470 they began to attempt to reach India by sailing around Af rica. In 1486 a Portuguese captain, Bar- tholomew Diaz, while engaged in this attempt, was carried far to the south in a storm, and on his return to the coast he found it on his left hand as he moved toward the north. He followed 1 The name “Cape Verde” indicates the surprise of the discoverers (1450) at verdure so far south. Columbus before Isabella A NEW WORLD 327 it several hundred miles, well into the Indian Ocean. Then his sailors compelled him to turn back to Portugal. India was not actually reached until the expedition of Vasco da Gama in 1498, after more memorable voyages in another direction. One of the sailors with Diaz in 1486, when in this way he rounded the Cape of “ Good Hope,” was a Bartholomew Colum- bus, whose brother Christopher also had sailed on several Portu- guese voyages. Now, however, for some years, Christopher Columbus had devoted himself to the more daring theory that India could be reached by sailing west into the open At- lantic. Portugal, well content with her monopoly of African exploration, refused to assist him to try his plan. Henry VII of England also declined to furnish him ships. But finally, the high-minded Isabella of Castile, while the siege of Granada was in progress, fitted out his small fleet, and in 1492 Columbus revealed to Europe the continent of America — soon to be a chief factor in that “new world” toward which the old earth was now so swiftly spinningo Columbus and America APPENDIX A SELECT LIST OF BOOKS ON ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL HISTORY FOR HIGH SCHOOLS Prehistoric Culture Clodd, E., Story of Primitive Ma?i (“ Primer ”). Appleton, New York. Story of the Alphabet. Appleton. Davenport, E., Domesticated Animals and Plants. Ginn, Boston. Dodge, R. J., Our Wild Indians. Hartford. Holbrook, F., Cave, Mound, and Lake Dwellers. Heath, Boston. Joly, N., Man before Metals. Appleton. Mason, O. T., Woman’s Share in Primitive Culture. Appleton. Starr, F., Some First Steps in Human Progress. Flood and Vincent, Meadville, Pa. It is not suggested that a school library should own all the works above, until it is well supplied in other directions. But any of them will make entertaining reading. Before the recent rise in the cost of bookmaking they were cheap volumes — from 35 cents to $2.50. More costly, and beautifully illustrated volumes in the same field are Solas’ Ancient Hunters and Osborn’s Men of the Old Stone Age. For Fiction, on the same period, the best attempt is Stanley Waterloo’s Story of Ab. Oriental History Baikie, James, Story of the Pharaohs (illustrated). Macmillan. Breasted, J. H., History of the Ancient Egyptians. Scribner, New York. The same author has a larger, finely illustrated work covering the same ground. History of Egypt. Scribner, New Y^ork. ** Davis, William Steams, Readings in Ancient History. Allyn and Bacon, Boston. Two volumes : “ Greece and the East ” and “ Rome and the West.” Volume I contains 60 pages of source material ” in Oriental history, with valuable introductions and comment. Hommel, F., Civilization of the East (“ Primer ”). Macmillan. Jackson, A. V. W., Zoroaster. Macmillan. * Myres, J. L., Dawn of History {“ Home University ”). Holt. « 1 2 APPENDIX Petrie, W. F., Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt (illustrated). McClurg. Somewhat technical, but by the most famous Egyptian explorer of our times. Sayre, A. H., Babylonians and Assyrians. Revell, Chicago. Winckler, Hugo, Babylonia and Assyria. Scribner. Somewhat more recent in scholarship than Sayre, but hardly so readable. Ancient Crete Baikie, James, Sea Kings of Crete (illustrated). Macmillan. Hawes and Hawes, Crete, the Forerunner of Greece. Harpers. Greek History Source Material ** Davis, William Stearns, Readings in Ancient History. See above. This should be the first library material purchased for Greek history, unless it is bought by each student. Its use will make students wish to know more of certain ancient authors (below) . Aristotle, On the Constitution of Athens; translated by Kenyon. Mac- millan. This is the least readable of the books mentioned in this list ; but it can be used in parts, under a teacher’s direction. Herodotus, Rawlinson’s translation, edited by Grant; two volumes; Scribner. Macaulay’s translation, two volumes. Macmillan. * Homer’s Iliad, translated by Lang, Leaf, and Myers. Macmillan. * Homer’s Odyssey, translated by Butcher and Lang. Macmillan. Translated by Palmer. Houghton. Plutarch, Lives; translated by Clough; Everyman’s Library (Dutton, New York) ; three volumes. Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War. Jowett’s translation; Clarendon Press, Oxford; four volumes, or the same edited in one volume and published by Lothrop, Boston. Everyman’s Library (Dutton, New York) gives several volumes of these classics at cheaper rates. Constant additions are made to the Library. Herodotus and Thucydides can be obtained also in less desirable translations, but much cheaper, in Harper’s Classi- cal Library. Modern Works. * Abbott, E., Pericles (“ Heroes ”). Putnam, New York. Bliimmer, H., Home Life of the Ancient Greeks (profusely illustrated). Cassell, New York. ^ (Still valuable; but if the library is buying a new book on the subject, it should get Gulick, below.) APPENDIX 3 * Bury, J. B., History of Greece to the Death of Alexander. Macmillan. * Church, E. J., Trial and Death of Socrates. Macmillan. A translation of four of Plato’s Dialogues touching upon this period of Socrates’ life. They are also the easiest of Plato’s writ- ings for young people to understand. It has valuable comments. Cox, G. W., Greeks and Persians. Epochs Series. Longmans, New York. * Cox, G. W., The Athenian Empire. Epochs Series. Longmans. Cunningham, W., Western Civilization in Its Economic Aspects: Ancient Times. Macmillan. The best work on its special phase. Very full for Greece. * Davis, William Steams, A Day in Old Athens. Allyn and Bacon, Boston. A Victor of Salamis (novel). Macmillan. Exceedingly vivid presentation of Greek life. Gardiner, E. N., Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals (illustrated). Mac- millan. Gayley, C. M., Classic Myths. Ginn, Boston. * Grant, A. J., Greece in the Age of Pericles. Scribner. * Gulick, Chas. B., Life of the Ancient Greeks (illustrated). Appleton. * Mahaffy, J. P., Alexander’s Empire. Putnam, Nev/ York. — — Old Greek Life (“ Primer ”). American Book Co. Progress of Hellenism in Alexander’s Empire. University of Chicago Press. * Wheeler, Benjamin Ide, Alexander the Great {“ Heroes ”). Putnam. Bury is the best single work on Greek history. It closes with the death of Alexander. Cox’s volumes in the Epochs Series are slightly preferable for the Athenian period; and Wheeler’s Alexander is admirable for its period. For the age after Alexander, the best book is Mahaffy’s Alexander’s Empire or his Progress of Hellenism. Roman History Source Material. * Davis, William Steams, Readings in Ancient History, as for Greek History above. Tacitus. 2 vols. M^acmillan. Modern Works. * Beesly, A. H., TheGraechi, Marius and Sulla. Epochs Series. Long- mans. Bradley, H., The Goths {“ Nations ”). Putnam. Bury, J. B., The Roman Empire to 180 a.d. (“ Student’s ”). Ameri- can Book Co. 4 APPENDIX * Capes, W. W., Early Roman Empire. Epochs Series. Longmans. Age of the Antonines. Epochs Series. Longmans. Carr, The Church and the Empire. Longmans. Church, A. J., Roman Life in the Days of Cicero. Macmillan. Church, R. W., Beginning of the Middle Ages. Epochs Series. Long- mans. Davis, William Stearns, A Friend of Caesar (fiction). Macmillan. Firth, J. B., Augustus Caesar. Putnam, New York. Constantine the Great. Putnam, New York. Fowler, Warde, Caesar (“ Heroes ”). Putnam. Fowler, Social Life in the Age of Cicero. Macmillan. A useful and readable book. * How and Leigh, History of Rome to the Death of Caesar. Longmans. * Ihne, Wilhelm, Early Rome. Epochs Series. Longmans. Inge, W. R., Society in Rome under the Caesars. Scribners. Johnston, H. W., Private Life of the Romans. Scott, Foresman & Co., Chicago. Jones, H. S., The Roman Empire. Putnam. * Pelham, H. F., Outlines of Roman History. Putnam. A single volume covering the whole period to 476 a.d., by a great scholar and teacher. Pellison, Roman Life in Pliny's Time. New York. Preston and Dodge, Private Life of the Romans. Leach, Boston. Smith, R. B., Rome and Carthage. Epochs Series. Longmans. Thomas, E., Roman Life under the Caesars. London. * Tighe, Ambrose, Development of the Roman Constitution (" Primers ”). American Book Co. From the “Fall of Rome” to Columbus Source Material. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Bohn). Chronicles of the Crusades (Bohn), * Davis, William Stearns, Readings in Ancient History, II. Allyn and Bacon, Boston. Einhard, Charlemagne. American Book Company. English History from Contemporary (Writers). Edited by F. York- Powell. A series of ten small volumes, all very valuable. Putnam, New York. * Hill, Mabel, Liberty Documents. Longmans. Joinville, Memoir of St. Louis. (Various editions.) Lanier (editor). The Boy's Froissart. Scribner. Marco Polo, The Story of, edited by Noah Brooks. Century Co. * Ogg, T. A., Source Book of Medieval History. American Book Co. APPENDIX 5 Modern Works. Adams, G. B., Growth of the French Nation. Macmillan. — — Civilization during the Middle Age. Scribner. * Archer and Kingsford, The Crusades {“ Nations ”)• Putnam. Balzani, Popes and Hohenstaufen. Longmans. Beard, Charles, An Introduction to English Historians (extracts from leading authorities on interesting topics). Macmillan. Boyeson, H. H., Norway {“ Nations ”)• Putnam. Brown, Horatio, The Venetian Republic (“ Temple Primers ”)• Mac- millan. * Bryce, James, Holy Roman Empire. Macmillan. * Cheyney, E. P., Industrial and Social History of England. Mac- millan. Church, Beginnings of the Middle Ages (“ Epochs ”)• Longmans. Clemens (Mark Twain), Joan of Arc. Harper. Cornish, F. W., Chivalry. Macmillan. Cox, G. W., The Crusades {“ Epochs ”). Longmans. Cunningham and McArthur, Outlines of English Industrial History. Macmillan. Davis, H. W. C., Charlemag?ie (“ Heroes ”)• Putnam. (Or see Hodgkin’s Charles in the supplementary list below.) * Emmerton, Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages. Ginn. Gilman, The Saracens (“ Nations ”). Putnam. Gray, The Children's Crusade. Houghton. * Green, J. R., History of the English People. 4 vols. Burt, New York. Or, in place of this last work, Short History of the English People. American Book Co. Green, Mrs., Henry II. Macmillan. Hughes, Thomas, Alfred the Great. Macmillan. Jenks, Edward Plantagenet (“ Heroes ”). Putnam. Jessopp, The Coming of the Friars. Putnam. Jiriczek, Northern Hero Legends. Macmillan. Lane-Poole, Saladin (“ Heroes ”). Pxitnam. Masterman, J. H. B., Dawn of Medieval Europe (“ Six Ages ”). Mac- millan. Mullinger, University of Cambridge. Longmans. Oman, C. W. C., Byzantine Empire {“ Nations ”). Putnam. Pears, E., Fall of Constantinople. Harper. Perry, F., St. Louis (“ Heroes ”). Putnam. * Shepherd, W. R., Historical Atlas. Holt. Stubbs, Early Plantagenets (“ Epochs ”). Longmans. Tout, T. F., Edward I. Macmillan. Van Dyke, History of Painting. New York. Zimmem, H., The Hansa (“ Nations ”). Putnam. 6 APPENDIX These preceding lists do not contain nearly all the books in these fields to be found in a large high school library. They represent only such volumes as ought to he constantly accessible to a first-year class in the study. When two books on the same field are named, one of them distinctly preferable to the other (as with Bliimmer and Gulick on Greek Life), this is done because the library may already have the older work — in which case it is not worth while to buy the other until more pressing needs are well supplied. The starred volumes should he present in multiple copies. It seems desirable to add the following supplementary list for the larger schools. Some Additional Books on the Last Period Ashley, Introduction to English Economic History. Vol. I, Part I. Longmans. Beazley, Prince Henry the Navigator {“ Heroes ”). Putnam. Cutts, Parish Priests and Their People. London. Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages. New York. Du Chaillu, The Viking Age. 2 vols. Murray. Gasquet, F. A., Parish Life in Medieval England. New York. Hodgkin, T., Charles the Great. Macmillan. James, G. P. R., History of Chivalry. Harper. Jusserand, English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages. London. Keary, The Vikings of Western Christendom. Putnam. Liibke, History of Art. 2 vols. Dodd and Mead. McCabe, Abelard. Putnam. Morison, Life and Times of St. Bernard. Macmillan. Putnam, Ruth, Books and Their Makers in the Middle Ages. Putnam. Robinson and Rolfe, Petrarch. Putnam. Sabatier, St. Francis. Scribner. Saintsbury, Flourishing of Romance. Scribner. Smith, J. H., The Troubadours at Home. Putnam. Stephens, W. R. W., Hildebrand and His Times. Longmans. Symonds, J. A., Short History of the Renaissance in Italy (edited by Pearson). Scribner. Vmcent, The Age of Hildebrand. Scribner. Weil, Venice {“ Nations ”)• Putnam. York-Powell, Alfred the Truth-Teller. Putnam. INDEX Pronunciation, except for familiar names and terms, is shown by divi- sion into syllables and accentuation. When diacritical marks for English names are needed, the common marks of Webster’s Dictionaries are used. German and French pronunciation can be indicated only imperfectly to those who are not familiar with the languages ; but attention is called to the following marks : ae and oe = e\ie = %■, the soft aspirated guttural sound g of the German is marked G ; the corresponding ch (as in ich) is marked k ; the sound of the nasal French n is marked n; for the German a and au the equivalents are indicated, to prevent confusion with English (i; 0 is always the German letter; and ii is the German sound which is equivalent to French u. In French words with an accent on the final syl- lable, that accent only is marked ; but it should be understood that in such words the syllables as a rule receive nearly equal stress. Silent letters are put in Italic. For most geographical names, except such common ones as England or Italy, the index indicates a map on which the location is shown. Aachen (aK'gn), 260; map after p. 260. Abbey, term explained, 252, note. Abelard (ab'e-lard), Peter, 301. Abraham, founder of Hebrews, 48. Absolutism, 231. Abyssinia (ab-ys-sin'i-a), 24; see Ethiopia, map, 10. Academy, Plato’s, at Athens, see Museum. Accad (ac'cad), 30; map after p. 18. Achaea (a-ch*'a), map after p. 52. Achaean (a-chS'an) League, 142, note. Achilles (a-chil'les), 62, 64, 66. Acropolis (a-cr6p'o-lis),'the central hill-fort about which grew up an- cient cities, 61. Acropolis of Athens, in age of Peri- cles, 103 and map opposite, 106- 7, and Plate XX. Actium (ac'ti-um). Battle of, 210; map after p. 52. Adrianople (ad'ri-an-6'ple). Battle of, in 378 a.d., 245; map after p. 260. Adriatic Sea, dividing line between Greek and Latin cultures, 182, 224 ; between Greek and Roman churches, 256. Aediles (ae'diles), Roman, 169. Aegaean (ae-gS'an) Sea, home of early culture, 53 ; see Crete, Knossos, Mycenae, maps after pp. 52, 70. Aegina (oe-gl'na), map after p. 52. Aegospotami (ae-gos-pot'a-mi) (Goat Rivers), Battle of, 127. Aemilianus (ae-mil-i-a'nus), Pub- lius Scipio, 180-1. Aequians (e'kwi-ans), map, 150. Aeschylus (aes'chy-lus), 108. Africa, early copper civilizations in 7 8 INDEX Nile Valley, 6; see Egypt; cir- cumnavigation of, by ancient Egyptians, 27; Phoenician col- onies in, 46, 47 ; Greek colonies in, 70; prosperity under Rome, 219, 220; Vandal kingdom in, 245 and map after 248; con- quered by Mohammedans, 254 ; see Egypt and Carthage. Agamemnon (ag-a-m6m'non), 62. Agesilaus (a-g6s-i-la'us). King of Sparta, 130. Agora (ag'orra), at Athens, 120; map, 101. Agrarian Laws, term explained, 192, note ; Solon’s, 77 ; Licin- ian, 160 ; of the Gracchi, 192-6 ; of Caesar, 207. Agricola (a-gric'6-la), and the Pan- theon, Plate facing 225. Agriculture, prehistoric, woman’s part in, 4-5; selection of our food plants, 7 ; in Egypt, 16-7 ; in Babylonia, 38; in Homeric Greece, 63-4 ; in age of Pericles, 119; early Roman, 158; Ro- man about 200 B.C., 170; after Punic Wars, 185-8; serf labor in later Empire, 235; primitive under Feudal system, 273-6 ; Saracenic, 294. Alba Longa (ai'ba Ibn'ga), 150, and map, lb. Alchemy (aPeh6m-y), 302-3. Alcibiades (al-ci-bi'a-des), 126. Alemanni (a-la-man'ne), 229 ; map after 248. Alexander the Great, 35 ; con- quests, 135-7 ; merging of the East and West, 137-8; ex- plorations, 139 ; routes, map after 134. Alexander VI, Pope, 315. Alexandria, name of many Greek cities in Asia, 137-8, map after p. 134. Alexandria in Egypt, founded, 136 ; glory of, 142; library at, 145; center of culture under Rome, 224 ; Patriarchate of, 255 ; falls to Mohammedans, 256; map after p. 134. Alexandrian Library, 145. Alexandrian Lighthouse, 141-2. Alexandrian Museum, 145-6. Alfred the Great, 268-9. Algebra, origin, 295. Alhambra (al-ham'bra), Plate XLV, facing 294. Alphabet, growth, 8; Phoenician, 47 ; Cretan, 55 ; completed by the Greeks, 59. America, discovery, 325-7. Ammon, Temple of (Hall of Col- umns), at Karnak, Plate IV. Amos, Hebrew prophet, 51. Amphitheater (am-phi-the'a-ter), term explained, 208; at Pom- peii, 208; at Rome, see Colos- seum. Anaxagoras (an-ax-ag'6-ras), 110. Ancestor worship, primitive, 3 ; Egyptian, 22; Greek, 64; Ro- man, 153-4. Andrea del Sarto (an-dre'a d6l sar'to), 323. Angles (an'gles), in Britain, 245; map after 248. Anio (a'ni-o) River, 148; map, 150. Antigone (an-tig'o-ne), 115. Antioch, 220; map after p. 218. Antonines (an'to-nines), the, 217. Antoninus (an-to-ni'nus) , Marcus Aurelius, 217-8, 226-7. Antoninus Pius, 217. Antonius (an-to'ni-us), Marcus (Mark Antony), 209, 210. Apelles (a-p§l'les), 143. INDEX 9 Aphrodite (aph-ro-di'te), 65; statue (of Melos), 143. Apollo (a-pol'lo), 65 ; oracle of, 69 ; Belvedere, 141, 143; see Plate XVII. Appian (ap'pi-an), historian, 226. Appian (ap'pi-an) Way, the, 166, 167 ; see Roman Roads, and map, p. 168. Appius Claudius, censor, 152, 167. Apprentices, see Gilds in Middle Ages. Aquae Sextiae (ak'we s§x'ti-e). Battle of, 198 ; map after p. 176. Aqueducts, of Pisistratus, 79; in Graeco-Oriental cities, 138; in Roman cities, 220. Aquitaine (a-kwi-tan'), 253, 255; map after 252. Arabic notation, origin, 7 ; and the Arabs, 294 ; adopted in Europe, 297. Arbela (ar-be'la). Battle of, 136; map facing p. 135. Arc, Joan (Jon) of, 312 and Plate opposite. Arch, Egyptian, 21 ; Babylonian (oldest known), 30; Roman, 224, and many cuts; Norman, 282; pointed in Gothic archi- tecture, Plates after 282, 288, and 304. Archbishops, origin, 255; in Middle Ages, 128. Archimedes (ar-chi-me'des), 146, 178. Architecture, prehistoric, Plate after p. 4 ; Egyptian, 15, 21, and Plates III-VIII ; m Chaldea and Assyria, 39-40 ; Persian bor- rowed, 42 and Plate after 44; Grecian, orders of, 72 ; in age of Pericles, 106-7 ; Roman (under the Empire), 225; Saracenic, 294 and Plates after 244, 294; Romanesque, Plate after 304; Gothic, 288, 304, and Plates XLVIII and especially XLIX. Archon (ar'chon), 76. Areopagus (ar-e-6p'a-gtis). Council of, 76, 78. Ares (a'res), 65. Argolis (ar'go-lis), map after p. 52. Argos (ar'gos), map after p. 52. Arian (a'ri-an) heresy, 241-2. Aristarchus (ar-is-tar'chus), 146. Aristides (ar-is-ti'des), 91. Aristocracy, term explained, 62, note. Aristophanes (ar-is-tbph'a-nes), 108. Aristotle (ar'is-tbt-le), quoted on early Athens, 76, 80 ; and Alex- ander, 135, 139 ; philosophy, 143-4; on sphericity of the earth, 146. Arius (a'ri-us), of Alexandria, 242. Armenia (ar-me'ni-a), map after p. 218. Armor, feudal, 269. Art, prehistoric, 3, 4, and Plates 1 and II; Egyptian, 21-2, and Plates III-X; Babylonian, 38- 9 ; and cuts on 34-9, Plate XIII ; Persian, borrowed, 42 ; Greek, to 500 b.c., 70-2; in age of Pericles, 106 ff. ; in Alexandrian age, 229-30; in Middle Ages, 560-1 ; at Renaissance, 597. Artaxerxes (ar-ta-zerx'es), cut fac- ing 44. Artemis (ar'te-mis), 165. Asia, Province of, 199. Aspasia (as-pa'si-a), 113. Assyria (as-syr'i-a), 29-30; Em- pire, 31 ; militarism, 31-2 ; fall, 32 ; society and culture (see 10 INDEX Babylonia), 39, 40; see map after 18. Astrology, Chaldean, 38 ; medie- val, 302. Astronomy, Egyptian, 20; Chal- dean, 38 ; Greek, 146 ; Sara- cenic, 294. Athanasius (ath-an-a'si-us), 241. Athene (a-the'ne), 65; statues of, on the Acropolis, 107. Athens, map after 52 and 94 ; plan, 101 ; consolidation of Attica by, 61; mother of “Ionia,” 67; democratic gains before 500 b.c., 76 ff. ; discontent of the poor, 77 ; wealth gains political power, 77 ; written laws, 78 ; Solon’s reforms, 78-9 ; continued class stride, and tyrants, 79-80; re- forms of Clisthenes, 80-1 ; and Persian Wars, 88-96; rebuilt, and walls, 97-8 ; the Piraeus, 98; and Confederacy of Delos, 99; and Athenian Empire, 100 ff. ; power and numbers, 183 ; democracy, 104 ff. ; assembly, under Pericles, 105; juries and payment, 105-6 ; public service, 106 ; intellect and art in age of Pericles, 106-12; as described by Pericles, 112; and Pelopon- nesian War, 124-9 ; Goat Rivers, and surrender, 127 ;. under Spar- tan rule, 128 ff. ; “ the Thirty,” and restoration of democracy, 128-9; shelters Theban demo- crats, 130 ; and Philip of Mace- don, 134 ; center of learning under Rome, 224. Athos (a'thos). Mount, map after 52. Attica, after Dorian invasions, 67 ; map after 52, and on 94. Attic Comedy, 109. Augurs, Roman, 154. “ Augustan Age,” 212, 226. Augustine, missionary to Britain, 268. Augustus, Roman Emperor, see Octavius Caesar. Aurelian (au-re'li-an). Emperor, 229-30. Aurelius, see Antoninus. Auspices, Roman, 154. Austria, origin, 292 ; seized by Hapsburgs, 316; head of Holy Roman Empire, bulwark against Turks, 317 ; and Netherlands, 319. Avars, map after 260. Aventine (a'v6n-tine), the, map, 151. Avignon (a-ven-y6n'), Papacy at, 313-5. Babylon, map after 18, on 33; land and people, 29-30; early city-state, 30; and Hammurapi (First Empire), 31; subject to Assyria, 31 ; Second Empire, 32-3; fall, 33; society, indus- try, and ■ art, 34 ff . ; cuneiform script, 36-7 ; laws of Hammu- rapi, 35-6 ; religion and morals, 40. “ Babylonian Captivity,” of the Church, 313-5. Bacon, Roger, 303; and Colum- bus, 325-6. Bactriana (bac-tri-an'a), map fac- ing 135. Bagdad (bag 'dad), map after 260. Ball, John, and the Peasant Rising, 307 ff. Banquet, in Greek life, 121-2. Barbarian Invasions, in Oriental history, 5, 25, 30, 32, 42-3; in times of Marius and Caesar,. INDEX 11 197, 201 ff. ; on frontiers of I Roman Empire, 223 ; into Em- i pire from Aurelius to Aurelian, 218, 229; success in 4th cen- tury, 244 ff. See Teutons, Norsemen, Hungarians. “ Barbarians,” to Greeks, 68. I Barca (bar'ca), see Hamilcar. “ Barrack Emperors,” 229. ' Barter, Trade by, see Money. I Basilica (ba-sil'i-ca), Plate after ; 240. I Battle, Trial by, 249. I Bavaria, and the Franks, 253, 255 ; map facing 253. Bayeux (ba-e') Tapestry, 284. j| Belgium, see Aei/ierZands; becomes ' Austrian, 319. , Belvedere (bel-ve-clere'), Apollo, ! 141, 143. ] “ Benefit of clergy,” 280. I Beneventum (ben-e-ven'tum), Bat- I tie of, 162 ; map after 148. Benvenuti, Italian authority upon j Roman antiquities, Plates XXXI, XLI. ; Bible, the, translated into Greek I (Old Testament), 145; into English, by Wyclif, 307 ; see Erasmus. . “ Bills,” origin of, in Parliament, ! 309. I Bishops, origin of, 255 ; in Middle Ages, 279-80.' ; Bithynia (bi-thyn'i-a), map after p. ! 218. ! “ Black Death,” the, 306-9. Black Sea, and early Greek colo- I nies, 70. I Boeotia (bde-6'ti-a), map after p. ‘ 52; see Plataea, Thebes. 1 Bohemia, map after p. 260; and I Hussites, 314-5 ; loses Austria to Hapsburgs, 316. Boniface VIII, Pope, 313. Bordeaux (bor-do'), map after p. 248. Borgia (bor'gfa), family, 315. Brandenburg, Mark of, see Prus- sia. “ Bread and Games,” 207-8. Brennus (brgn'nus), Gaul, 161. Britain, and Phoenicians, 46; and Romans, 213; Hadrian’s Wall in, 217 ; abandoned by Romans — Teutonic Conquest, 267-8 ; rechristianized, 268; see Eng- land. Bronze Age, the, 6; see Egypt, Babylonia. Brutus, Marcus, 209. “ Bull,” the Papal, term explained, 287. Burgundians, settlement in Gaul, 245; map after 248. Burgundy, Duchy of, map after p. 290. Byzant (coin), 295. Byzantine (by-zan'tine) Empire, see Greek Empire. Byzantium (by-zan'ti-um), map after 70; see Constantinople. Ca-diz' (or Ga'des), founded, 47; map after p. 70. Caelian (cfe'li-an) Hill, map, p. 151. Caesar, Caius Julius, and Sulla, 200, 201 ; in Gaul, 201 ; rupture with Pompey, 202 ff. ; five-year rule, 205 ff. ; the hope of subject peoples, 206 ; constructive work, 206-8 ; murder, 209 ; author, 226. “ Caesar,” a title, 219. Calendar, Egyptian, 20; Caesar’s, 208 ; Gregory’s, 208, note. Caligula (ca-lig'u-la). Emperor, 213. 12 INDEX Campania (cam-pa 'ni-a), map after p. 148. Campus Martius (mar'ti-us), map, 151. Canal, Nile to Red Sea, 18, 27, 44 and note. Cannae (can'nse). Battle of, 176. Canon Law, 280. Canterbury Tales, 304 ; quoted, see Chaucer. Capet (ka-pa'), Hugh, 291. Capetians (ca-pe'ti-ans), 291 f¥. Capitoline, the, map, p. 151. Capitularies (ca-pit'u-la-ries), Charlemagne’s, 261. Cappadocians (cap-pa-do'ci-ans), map after 134. Capua (cap'u-a), destroyed by Rome, 176, 179; map after 148. Cardinals, College of, 281. Carolingians (car-o-lin'gi-ans), de- generate, 265-6, 290, 291 ; term explained, 290. Carpentry, in ancient Crete, 56. Carthage, Phoenician colony, 47, 124; and Greeks in Sicily, 88; and Rome, Punic Wars, 174- 281; “blotted out,” 180-1; rebuilt by Caesar, 207 ; map after p. 70. Cassius (cash'ius), and Caesar, 209. Cassius, Spurius (spu'rius), 159. Cato, Marcus Portius, 180, 191. Cave-men (Stone Age), 1-4. Celt, term explained, 267, note. Censors, Roman, 169. Centralization, in government, term explained, 231. Ceres (ce'res), 65, 153. Chaeronea (ch^r-o-ne'a). Battle of, 134. Chalcis (ehal'gis), map after p. 52; and colonies, 70. Chaldea (ehal-de'a), map after 18 ; convenient but not strictly proper name for the Euphrates district ; see Babylon. Champollion (sham-p5l-li-on'), French authority on Egyptian hieroglyphics, 20. Charlemagne (sharl 'e-man), 279; defensive wars, 259-60; and revival of Roman Empire in the West, 260; civilization in his age, 261 ; government, 261 ; and learning, 262; place in history, 262-3. Charles Martel (mar-teP), 253 255. Charles the Bold, 319. Charles V, of Holy Roman Empire, and danger of world despotism, 319-20. Chaucer, 304; quoted, 279, 307. Cheops (ehe'ops), see Khufu. Chinvat (chin'vat) Bridge, the, 45. Chios (ehi'os), map after 52. Chivalry, 277-9. Christ, birth, 212. Christianity, early beginnings, 212, 214, 237 ; Nero’s persecution, 214; debt to the Empire, 237; and persecutions, 237-9 ; tol- eratecf and favored by Constan- tine, 239; state religion under Theodosius, 241 ; persecutes . pagans, 241 ; and heresies, 242- 3 ; see Church, Papacy. Church, the, see Christianity and Papacy; organization and early history, 255-6 ; schism between East and West, 256-7 ; Roman hardship in Latin Christen- dom, 257 ; temporal power, 257 ; see Papacy. Cicero, 190; “ age of,” 226. Cid, Song of the, 303. INDEX 13 Cilicia (ci-li'cia), map after p . 70. Cimbri (cim'bri), the, 197. Cimon (ci'mon), 100. Cincinnatus (cin-cin-na'tus), 171. Circuit Judges, in England, origin, 285. Cisalpine (cis-al'pine) Gaul,* map, 148. Citeaux (si-to'), Abbey of, 252. Cities, see Towns. City-states, in old Egypt, 11; in Euphrates valley, 30 ; in Hellas, — the limit of Greek political ideals, 61 ; failure, 132 ; ap- proach to, in Middle Ages, 300. Civil Service, term defined, 106, note. Claudius (claud'i-us). Emperor, 213. Claudius, Appius, 162, 167. Clazomenae (cla-z6m'e-nS), map after p. 70. Clement VII, 314. Cleon (cle'on), Athenian, 126. Cleopatra (cle-6-pa'tra), 204, 209. Cleruchs (cler'uehs), 80. Cliff caves, and prehistoric remains, 1, 2, and Plate I. Clisthenes (clis'the-nes), 80-1. Cloaca Maxima (clo-a'ca maxi- ma), the, 152. Clovis (clo'vis), 252. Coinage, see Money. Colchis (col'chis), map after p. 70. Cologne (ko-lon'), map after 218. Colosseum, the, Plate after 228. Columbus, Christopher, and Amer- ica, 327. Combat, Trial by, 249. Commerce, early routes, Egyptian, 17-8; of Euphrates States, 35; Phoenician, 46-7 ; and inven- tion of coinage, 41 ; and Greek geography, 69-70, 84-5; Ro- man, 150, 171, 180, 184, 219- 23 ; growth in Europe after Crusades, 297-8. Commodus (com'mo-dus), 218. Common Law, the English, 285. Commons, House of, origin, 290. Compass, the Mariners’, invention of, 324. Compurgation (com-pur-ga'tion), Trial by, 248. Constantine, Emperor, and Chris- tianity, 239-40; and the Nicene Creed, 242. Constantine VI, 260, 261. Constantine Palaeologus (pa-lse-o'- l6-gus), 317. Constantinople, map after p. 218; capital of Greek Empire, 247 ; repels Saracens, 254 ; and the Crusades, 295 ; captured, 367. Constitution, term explained, 79. Consuls, Roman, 169. Copper, first use for tools, 6. Corcyra (cor-cy'ra), map after p. 70. Corinth, and Peloponnesian War, 124; destroyed by Rome, 187; rebuilt by Caesar, 207 ; map after 52. Corinthian Order, of architecture, 72. Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, 192, 194, 196. Correggio (k6r-6d'jo), 323. Crassus, 200, 201, 202. Crecy (krgs'si). Battle of, 306; map after p. 290. Cretan civilization, ancient, 53 ff. ; alphabet, 55 ; see Knossos; map after 18 and 52. Croesus (croe'sus), 41. Crotona, map after 70. Crusades. 294-6 ; results, 29? ff. 14 INDEX Cuneiform script, 36 and Plates following. Curials (cu'ri-als), Roman, 234. Curio, Manius, 170. Curule offices, 169. Cynic philosophy, 144. Cyrene (cy-re'ne), map after p. 70. Cyrus “ the Great,” 42, 88. Cyrus the Younger, 129-30. Dacia (da'ci-a), 217 ; map after p. 218. Damascus (da-mas'cus), map after p. 218. Danelaw (dane'law)(or Danelagh), 268 and map opposite. Darius Codomannus (da-ri'us c6d- o-man'nhs), and Alexander, 136. Darius the Organizer, 43-4, 88-9. “ Dark Ages,” the, 301. David, King of the Hebrews, 50. Decarchies (d6c'areh-ies), under Sparta, 127. Decemvirs (de-c6m'virs), Roman, 159. Delos (de'los). Confederacy of, 99- 100 ; island, map after p. 52. Delphi, 68 ; repulse of Gauls from, 141 ; map after p. 52. Delphic Oracle, 68-9. “ Demagogues,” in Athens, term explained, 104. Demeter (de-me'ter), 65 ; see Ceres. Demosthenes (de-mos'the-nes), orator, 134. Diaz (de-as'), and geographical dis- covery, 323. Diocletian (di-o-cle'ti-an). Em- peror, 330-3 ; persecution of Christians by, 239. Diogenes (di-6g'6-nes), 144. Dionysius (di-o-ny'si-us), 226. Dionysus (di-o-ny'sus), god of the vintage and the drama, 108; theater of, at Athens, 109 and Plate opposite. Domesday (domes'day) Book, 285. Domestication of animals, prehis- toric, 2, 4, 7 ; in ancient Egypt, 17 ; of plants, 5, 7. Dominicans (do-m'm'i-cans), 283. Domitian, Emperor, 216. “ Donation of Pippin,” 258. “ Do-Nothing Kings,” the, 253. Dorians, 67. Doric Order, of architecture, 72. Draco (dra'co), laws of, 77. Drama, Greek, 108-9. Drusus (dru'sus), rival of Grac- chus, 195 ; champion of the Ital- ians, 198. Ducal Palace (Venice), Plate facing 321. Duns the Scot, 302; “ dunce,” 303. East Goths, 245, 248; map after 248. Eastern Empire, see Greek Empire. Ebro (e'bro), map after p. 176. Echatana (6c-ba-tan'a), map fac- ing 135. “ Economics,” term explained^ 77, note. Edfu (ed'fu). Temple at, Plate III. Education and learning, in Egypt, 18-21; in Chaldea, 36-8; in Athens, 108-13, 123 ; under Roman Empire, 224-6 ; de- cline in 3d and 4th centuries, 236, 242-3; “in Dark Ages,” 246; in monasteries, 252; and Charlemagne, 262; and Alfred the Great, 268; Saracenic, 294- 5 ; in 11th century, 301-4; see Universities; in Renaissance Age, 322-5. Edward I, of England, and Par- liament, 289. INDEX 15 Edward II, deposed, 305. Edward III, 305 ff. Egbert, of Wessex, 268. Egypt, early home of bronze cul- ture, 6; land and people, 9-11 ; and the . Nile, 9-11; map, 10 government, 11 ; SQcml classes and daily life, 12-4 ; trade (bar' ter), 13, 17, 18; woman in, 14- 5; “Old Kingdom” (pyra- mids), 15-6; Middle Kingdom (irrigation system), 16; agri- culture, 16-7 ; commerce, 17-8 ; artisans, 18 ; books and writing, 18-20 ; science, 20-1 ; sculp- ture, 21-2; religion and charac- ter, 22; and relation to other lands, 24 ff . ; militarism and fall, 26-8 ; under the Ptolemies, 141-2; conquered by Saracens, 254. Elbe (el'be), map after p. 260. Electoral College, of the Holy Roman Empire, 316. Elgin marbles, 107. Elis (e'lis), map after p. 52. Empire, term explained, 30, note. England, see Britain; local insti- tutions (Saxon), 283; Norman Conquest, 283-4 ; Henry II and the courts, 285 ; growth of Com- mon Law, ib.; Magna Carta, 286-7 ; and Parliament, 287-90 ; and Hundred Years’ War, 305 ff. ; Black Death and disappear- ance of villeinage, 306-9; peas- ant rising of 1381, 308; Parlia- ment under Lancastrians, , 309- 10; Wars of Roses, 311 ; “ New Monarchy ” of the Tudors, 3il. Epaminondas (e-pam-i-n5n'das), 131-2. Ephesus (eph'e-sds), 67 ; map after p. 52. Epic poetry, Greek, 72-3. Epictetus (ep-ic-te'tus), slave phi- losopher, 226. Epicureanism (ep-i-cu-re 'an-ism) , 144. Epicurus (ep-I-cu'rus), 144. Epirus (e-pi'rus), map after p. 52. Erasmus (e-ras'mus), 323-4. Eratosthenes (er-a-tos'th6-nes), keeper of Alexandrian Library, 146. Erechtheum (e-r6ch'the-um), Plate facing 130. Eretria (e-re'tri-a), 89; map after p. 52. Esquiline (es'qui-llne), map, p. 151. Estates General, French, 291. Ethiopia (e-thi-o'pi-a), map, p. 10. Etruria (e-tru'ri-a), map after 148 and on 150. Etruscans (e-trhs'cans), 149, 150, 151, 152. Euboea (eu-boe'a), map after 52. Eucid (eu'cid), 146. Euphrates (eu-phra'tes), 29; map after 18. Euripides (eu-rip'i-des), 108. Excommunication (ex-com-mu-ni- ca'tion), 289. Experiment, method of, not known to Greeks, 112-3. Fabian (fa'bi-an) policy, seeFahius. Fabius (fa’bi-us) (Q. Fabius Maxi- mus), 176. Falconry, 275. Ferdinand of Aragon, 317, 319. Feudalism, causes, 269, 272 ; castles and armor, 271 ; origin of classes and of privileges, 270; decen- tralization, 271-2; private wars, 273; and the workers, 273-6; life of the fighters, 276-7 ; chiv- alry, 277-9. 16 INDEX Fire-making, 7. Flavian (fla'vi-an) Caesars, 215. Fortescue (for'tes-cue). Sir John, 310, 311. Forum (fo'rum), the Roman, ori- gin, 150; map, 151; Caesar’s, 208 and Plates opposite and after 206. France, see Gaul and Verdun, Treaty of; rise of Capetians, 290-1 ; growth of territory and of royal power, 290-1 ; and Hundred Years’ War, 305-12; absolutism, 312. Francis I, of France, 320. Franciscans (fran-cis'cans), 283. Franks, 245, 252-9; see Charle- magne and maps after 248, 252, 260. Friars, 283. Frieze (frieze), in architecture, 72; see Parthenon and p. 97. Froissart (froiss'art), on John Ball, 307. Gades (ga'des) (Cadiz), Phoenician colony, 47 ; map after 70. Galatia (ga-la'ti-a), 141 ; map after 218. Gauls, invasion of Greek Orient, 141 ; in Italy, 149 ; sack Rome, 161 ; Caesar in Gaul, 200-1 ; see Cisalpine Gaul, Roman Empire. “ Generation,” a, as measure of time, explained, 41, note. Genucius (gen-ti'ci-us), 161. Geography, and history, in Egypt, 9-11, 20; in Chaldea, 29, 35; in Hellas, 53, 61, 67, and especially 84-6; in Italy and with Rome, 148-51 ; discoveries at close of Middle Ages, 322-7. Geometry, Egyptian, 20; Chal- dean, 37 ; Greek, 74, 146. Germany, see Teutons, Franks, and • Charlemagne; and Treaty of Verdun, 265 and map opposite; expansion into Slav East, 292 and map ; and Otto I (close of barbarian invasions), 292; and Holy Roman Empire, 292-3 ; decline of German kingship and political chaos, 293, 315-6; see Austria, Hapshurgs, and maps after 302, 314. Gilds (gilds), Roman, 171, 221, 234-5; medieval, 229-30. Giorgione (jor-jo'ne), 323. Gizeh (ge'zeh), map, 10. Gladiators, 186. Goshen (gosh'en). Land of, 48-9. Goths, see East Goths and West Goths. Gothic architecture, 304 and cuts and Plates, 288, 318 and after 206, 282, and especially 304. Gracchus, Caius (grac'chus, cai'- us), 194-6. Gracchus, Tiberius, 192-4. Graeco-Oriental (grS'co) World, the. 137 ff. ; Hellenism of the active element, 137-8 ; the many Alexandrias in, 138 ; wealth, 139 ; scientific expeditions, 139 ; Wars of the Succession, 140; resemblance to modern Europe, 140-1 ; Gallic invasion, 141 ; society and culture, 141-7. Granada, fall, 317. Granicus (gra-ni'cus,) Battle of, 136 ; map after p. 134. Grand Jury, origin, 285. Greek Church, the, separation from Latin, 255-6. Greek contributions to civilization (summary), 147. Greek Empire (or Eastern Em- pire), 247-8, 255-7 ; and Charle- INDEX 17 magne, 260-1 ; threatened by Turks, 295; and Crusades, ib.; overthrown by Turks, 317. Greek home life, in age of Pericles, 116-23. Greek language, recovery of, in closing Middle Ages, 317, 322-3. Greek philosophy, 6th century, 73-4; in age of Pericles, 110-2; in Alexandrian age, 143-4. Greek religion, 64-6; moral side, 114-5. Greek theater, 108-9. Greeks, the, and Ancient Egypt 27 ; prehistoric culture, 53 ff. ; Cretan, 53-6 ; Mycenae " rich in gold,” 56-7; Achaean, 58; fusion with earlier culture, 60 ff. ; city-state, 61-2; Ho- meric society, 62 ff. ; religion, 64-6 ; Dorian conquest, 67 ; 1000-500 B.C., 68 ff. ; expansion by colonization, 69-70 and map after 70; disappearance of Ho- meric kingship, 74 ; art and phi- losophy of 6th century, 71-3 ; “Age of Tyrants,” 74; rise of democracy at Athens, 75-81 ; Spartan training and military leadership, 81-3 ; geography, and contrast with Oriental States, 84-7 ; Persian Wars, which see ; Athenian leader- ship, see Athens; Spartan lead- ership, see Sparta; Theban leadership, 131-2; Macedonian conquest, 133; failure of city- state, 132-3 ; in the Orient with Alexander and after, see Graeco- Oriental World; contributions to civilization, 147 ; see Athens Macedonia, Rome. Gregory the Great, Pope, and England, 268. Gregory VII, Pope (Hildebrand), 282. Gregory XI, Pope, 314. Gunpowder, invention of, and early use, 302, 305; later improve- ments and importance, 324. Gutenberg (goot'en-bgra), John, 325. Habeas Corpus, 287. Hadrian, Emperor, 217 ; mau- soleum of, Plate after 246. Hadrian’s Wall, 217 and note, and map after p. 218. Halicarnassus (hal-i-car-nas'sus), map after p. 52. Hamilcar Barca (ha-mil'car bar'- ca), 175. Hammurapi (ham-mu-ra'pi), of Babylon, 31 ; laws of, 35-6. Hanging Gardens, at Babylon, 39. Hannibal (han'ni-bal), 175-80; route, map after 176. Hanseatic (han-se-at'ic) League, 300 and map after p. 302. Hapsburg (hapsTuro), the, 315-6, 319. Harold, the Saxon, 284. Hasdrubal (has'dru-bal), the Bar- cide, 179. Hastings, Battle of, 284. Hathor, Egyptian diety. Plates III, VIII. “Heathen,” 241, note. Hebrews, Semites, 30, note; early history to the Exodus, 48-9; under the Judges, 49; Kings and Prophets, 49 ; David and Solomon, 50-1 ; division and decline, 51 ; Assyrian cap- tivity, 51 ; Babylonian captiv- ity, 51 ; return to Palestine, 51 ; priestly rule, 52 ; and our Old Testament, ib.; mission, 52; 18 INDEX province of Roman Empire, 215; destruction and dispersion, 215; see Jerusalem. Hegira (he-gl'ra), the, 254. Hellas (hel'las), 84. Hellenes (hel'enz), term explained, 84. Hellenism and Hellenistic, terms compared, 140, note. Hellespont (hel'es-pont), the, map after p. 52. Helot (he'lot), 82. Helvetii (hel-ve'ti-i), 201-2. Henry II, 285. Henry III, 289. Henry IV, 303. Henry VII, 311. Henry VIII, 311. Henry the Navigator, 323. Hephaestus (he-phSs'tus), 65. Hera (he'ra), 65. Herculaneum (her-cu-la'ne-um), 216. Heresies, early Christian, 241-2. Hermes (her'mes), 65; statue by Praxiteles, 126. Hermits, Christian, 251. Herodotus (he-rod'o-tus), quoted on pyramids, 15; on Neco’s circumnavigation of Africa, 27 ; on Persian morals, 45 ; place in literature, 86, 109. Hesiod (he'si-od), 73. Hiero (hi'e-ro) II, 177. Hieroglyphics (hi-er-o-glyph 'ics) , Egyptian, 18-9 ; Chaldean, 36-7. Hipparchus (hip-par'chus), philos- opher, 146. Hipparchus, tyrant, 80. Hippias (hip'pi-as), tyrant, 80. Hiram of Tyre, and Solomon, 50. Hittites (hit'tites), and Egyptians, 27; iron weapons of, 27, 31; maps, 50 and after 18, 38. Holbein (hoPbeln), Dutch painter, 323. Holy Roman Empire, see Charle- magne; revival of Roman Em- pire in the West by Otto ; effect on Germany and on Italy, 293, 315 £f. ; and the Hapsburgs, 316. Homeric poems, 68, 79; re- duced to writing, 79. Hoplites (hop'lltes), Greek heavy- armed infantry, 124. Horace, Latin poet, 187, 225, 226. Horus (hb'rus), Egyptian deity. Plates III, VIII. Houses, Egyptian, 12, 14; in primitive Aegean civilization, 53; in age of Pericles, 116-7; early Roman, 152-3 ; Roman about 200 B.C., 172 ; after Punic Wars, 185 and Plates after 182, 188; in feudal age, 270-1, 274. Hungarians, nomad raids, 266 ; checked by Otto, 292. Hungary, see Hungarians; be- comes a Christian kingdom, 292 ; and the Turks, 317; a Haps- burg province, 316. Hus, John, 314-5. Hyksos (hyk'sos), the, 25, 49. Hymettus (hy-met'tus), map, p. 94. Hyphasis (hy'pha-sis) River, map after p. 134. Iconoclastic (i-con-o-clas'tic) dis- pute, the, 256. Ikhnaton (ik-hna'ton), and his hymn, 22-3. Iliad (il'i-ad), the, 58. Imbros (im'bros), map after p. 70. Immortality, belief in, prehistoric man, 3; Egyptian, 23-4; Per- sian, 45; Greek, 66; and see Socrates. INDEX 19 Imperator (im-per-a'tor), title, 205. Infantry, early meaning, 271. Interdict, the, 289. Ionia, Athenian colonization of, 67 ; early center of art and phi- losophy, 72 ; map after 52. Ionic Order, see Architecture Iran (e-ran'), Plateau of, 66; map after p. 38. Ireland, schools in Dark Ages, 301. Irene (i-rene')j Empress, 260. Iron, known to early Hittites, 27, 31 ; to Achaeans, 58. Isabella of Castile, 317, 327. Isis (i'sis), Egyptian deity, Plate VIII. Iskandar (is-kan-dar'), map after 134. Isocrates (I-soc'ra-tes), 133. Israel, Kingdom of, 51 ; see He- brews; map, 50. Issus (is'sus). Battle of, 136; map after p. 134. Italy, map after p. 148; Greek col- onies in, see Magna Graecia; land and peoples, 148-9 ; see Rome, Goths, Lombards; divided between Teutons and Empire, 248; see Papacy, Franks; and Holy Roman Empire, 292-3 ; in fragments in 13th century, 293, 319 ; see Renaissance. Ithaca (ith'a-ca), map after 52. Janiculum (ja-nic'u-lum). Mount, 152; map, 151. Janus (ja'nus), 153; gates of temple closed by Augustus, 211, 214. Japan, medieval rumors of, in Eu- rope, 325. Jaxartes (jax-ar'tes), the, map after p. 134. Jephthah (jgph'thah), 49. Jerusalem, 51; map, 50; de- struction by Titus, 215 ; patriar- chate of, 255 ; becomes Moham- medan, 254, 256; see Crusades; maps after 210 and on p. 50; Saracenic walls of, Plate after 294. Joan of Arc, see Arc, Joan. John, of England, 286. Joseph, the Hebrew, 48. Joshua, 49. Judah, Kingdom of, 80; map, 50; see Hebrews. Jugglers, medieval, 277. Julian Caesars, the, 215, note. Juno (ju'no), 65. Jupiter, 65, 154. Jury, the Athenian, 105-6. Jury, the modern system of trial by, 285, 288. Jury, Grand, 285. Justinian (jus-tin 'i-an) the Great, 247-8. Justinian Code, the, 248. Juvenal (ju'v6n-al), 185, 226. Kandahar (kan-da-har'), map after p. 134. Karnak (kar'nak), temple at, 12 and Plate IV after 12 ; map, p. 10. Khufu (ku'fu), 15. Kitchen utensils in ancient Crete, 55. Knighthood, see Chivalry. Knights of St. John, 296. Knights Templar, 296. Knights, Teutonic, 296 ; in eastern Europe, map after 302. Knossos (knos'sos), Palace of, 54-5 ; map after 18, 52. Koran (ko-ran'), the, 254. Kossova (kos-s5'va). Battle of, 317. 20 INDEX Lacedaemonians (lac-e-dS-mo'ni- ans), see Sparta; map after 52; term explained, 98, note. Lacroix (la-crwa'), a French au- thority upon medieval times, 271 and elsewhere. Lancastrians, growth of Parliament under, 309-10. Latin colonies, 165. Latin language, in Middle Ages, 303. Latium (la'ti-um), 149; map after p. 148 and on 150. Lebanon Mountains, map on p. 50. Lechfeld (leK'fglt), Battle of, 292. Legion, the Roman, 167-8. Lemnos (lem'nos), map after p. 52. Leo III, and Charlemagne, 260. Leo the Isaurian, 256. Leonardo (la-o-nar'do) da Vinci (da vin'che), 323. Leonidas (le-on'i-das), 93. Lesbos (les'bos), 157; map after 52. Leuctra (leuc'tra). Battle of, and plan, 131. Libations, in Greek worship, 64. Libraries, Babylonian, 36-7 ; in Graeco-Oriental World, as at Alexandria, 145-6. Licinian laws, the, 160-1. Licinius (li-cin'i-us), Emperor, 240. Ligurians (li-gu'ri-ans), map after 148. Liris (li'ris), the, map after 148. Livy, 226 ; quoted passim. Lollards, the, 307, 314. Lombards, 248, 257, 258, 259; map after 260. Louis IX, of France, 290. Louis XI, 312. Louvre (Idovr), art museum in modern Paris. Lucretius (lu-cre'ti-us), 226. Lycurgus (ly-cur'gus), 81. Lydia (1yd h-a), map after 38 ; and coinage, 41. Lyons, map after p. 218. Lyric Age, in Greece, 73. Ly Sander (ly-san'der), the Spartan, i 127. Macedonia (mac-e-do 'ni-a), map after 52; rise of, 132-3; and Philip II, 132-4; see Alexander. Maelius, Spurius (mfe'li-us, Spu'- ri-us), 159. Magna Carta, 286-7. Magna Graecia, 70 ; map after p. 70. Mahomet (ma-hom'et) the Con- queror, 317. Manlius (man'li-us), Marcus, 159, 161. Manor, feudal, 273-5. Man tinea (man-ti-ne'a), broken into villages by Sparta, 130; restored by Epaminondas, 132; battle of, 132; map after 52. Marathon, Battle of, 88-91 ; maps, 94 and after 52. March of the Ten Thousand, 129- 30. Mardonius (mar-do 'ni-us), 95-6. Marius (ma'ri-us), 197-9. Martin V, Pope, 315. Mary of Burgundy, 319 and Plate opposite. Massilia (mas-sil'i-a), map after 70. Maximilian I, Emperor, 316, and Plate after 318. Mayfields, 251, 261. Mecca (mec'ca), 253; map after 134. Medes (medes), the, 41 ; map after 38. INDEX 21 Megalopolis (meg-a-l6p'o-lis), 132. Megara (meg'a-ra), map after 52. Melius Spurius (me'li-us spu'rl-us), 159. Memnon (mgm'non), Colossi of, Plate after 27. Memphis, in Egypt, map, 10. Men-at-arms, 479. Menes (me'nes), of Egypt, 11. Merovingians (mer-o-vin'ji-ans), rulers of the House of Clovis, Empire of, map after 252. Mesopotamia (mes-o-po-ta'mi-a), 29 ; map after 18. Messene (m6s-se'ne), 132; map after 52. Messenia (mes-se'ni-a), map after 52. Metaurus (me-tau'rus). Battle of, 179 ; map after 176. Metropolis (of a Greek colony; mother city), 70. Metropolitan (met-ro-pol'i-tan), see Archbishop. Metz, Cathedral of, Plate after 304. Micah (mi'cah), Hebrew prophet, denunciation of greed of wealth, 51. Michael Angelo (mi'kel an'je-l6), 597. “ Middle Ages,” the, 321. Milan, map after 210; Edict of, 240. Miletus (mil-e'tus), map after 52; founded, 67 ; colonies, 70. Miltiades (mil-ti'a-des), 90. Milvian (mil'vi-an) Bridge, Battle of, 239. Minnesingers (min'ne-sing-ers), 304. Minos (mi 'nos), of Crete, 53. JVIissals, illuminated, 304. Mithridates (mith-ri-da'tes) VI, 199. Mohammed (mo-ham 'med), 253-4. Mohammedanism, 245, 253-5 ; see Saracens, Turks; culture in 11th century, 294-5. Monasticism (mon-as'ti-cism), 251-2. Money, no coinage in ancient Egypt, 17 ; invention of coin- age, 41; early Roman, 171; under Empire, drain to the East, 235, 236 ; lack in Middle Ages, 272 ; increase of, undermines feudalism, 297. Money power in politics, in Roman Republic, 183-4 ; in the Empire, 232, 233. Montfort (mont'fort), Simon of, 289. More, Sir Thomas, 324. Moses, and the Exodus, 49. Moustier (moos'ti-a), Le, and Stone Age remains, Plate after p. 2. Museum, Plato’s, at Athens, 145; Ptolemy’s, at Alexandria, 145-6. Mycale (myc'a-le). Battle of, 99; map after 52. Mycenae (my-ce'ns), 56-7; map after 52. Myron, Greek sculptor, 122 and Plate after 184. Nahum, on fall of Assyria, 32. Naucratis (nau-cra'tis), Greek col- ony in Egypt, 27 ; map, 10. Naupactus (nau-pac'tus), map after 52. Nausicaa (nau-sic'a-a), 63. Naxos (nax'os), 100; map after 52. Nearchus (ne-ar'chus), 139; route of, map after 134. 22 INDEX Nebuchadnezzar (neb-u-ehad-nez'- zar), 33. Neco (ne'co), of Egypt, 27. Nero, Emperor, 213-4. Nerva (ner'va). Emperor, 217. Netherlands, 317-9. ‘'New Monarchy,” in England, Tudor, 311. New Stone Age, 4-8. Nicaea (ni-cffi'a), map after 218; Council of, 242. Nicene (ni'cene) Creed, the, his- tory of, 242. Nicholas V, Pope, 315. Nicias (nic'i-as), 126. Nile, the, map, p. 10. Nimes (nem). Aqueduct of, 220. Nineveh (nin'e-veh), 49; map after 18, 38. Normandy, 267; map after 290. Norseman, 266. Norwich (nor'^(;ich), Cathedral of, 304. Octavius Caesar, 209-12; see Augustus. Odysseus (o-dys'seus), 62, 63, 64, 66. Odyssey (od'ys-sey), 59 £f. Old Stone Age, 1-4. Oligarchy, defined, 62, note. Olympia, map after 52; games at, 68 ; Stadium, Plate after 68. Olympiad, 68. Olympic Games, 68. Olympus, map after 52. Olynthus (o-lyn'thus), map after 52. Ordeal, Trial by, 248-9. Orleans, map after 290. Osiris, Egyptian deity, Plate VIII. Ostia, 1st Roman colony, 152 ; map, 150. Ostracism (os'tra-cism), 81, Ostrogoths (os'tro-goths), see East Goths. Otto I, and Hungarian invasions, 292; and Holy Roman Empire, 292. Oudenarde (ou-de-narde')> 13th century town-hall, Plate after 298. Ounce, a division of the Babylo- nian mina, equivalent in weight to the shekel, 171. Oxford Reformers, 323. Oxus (ox'us) River, map after 42. Ozymandias (o-zy-man'di-as), 28. Pagans, term explained, 241, note. Painting, Cave-man, 4 ; Egyptian, Plate VII, facing 23 ; Greek, 71 143 ; medieval, 304 ; Renais- sance, 322 ; and oils, 322. Palatine (pal'a-tme) Hill, map, 151, and Plate XLI. Palestine, map, 50. Palmyra (pal-my'ra), map after 218. Pamphylia (pam-phyl'i-a), map after 70. Pantheon (pan'the-on), the, 225 and Plate opposite. Papacy, claims of early Roman bishops, 256 ; advantages of Rome, ib.; Eastern rivals elim- inated, ih.; head of Latin Chris- tendom, 256-7 ; rise to temporal power, 257 ; and Lombards and Franks, 257-8 ; and Charle- magne, 259-60; and Holy Ro- man Empire, which see; loses power; “Babylonian Captiv- ity,” 313-5. Papal states, origin, 258. Paper, invention of, 325. Papyrus (pa-py'rus), 19. PariS; University of, 301. INDEX 23 Parliament (English), origin, 287-9 ; and Simon of Montfort, 289; “Model Parliament” of 1295, 289; division into Lords and Commons, 290 ; gains under Lancastrians, 309-10 ; saved under Tudors, 311. Parnassus (par-nas'sus). Mount, map after 52. Parthenon (par'the-non), 107 and cuts after 103, 106, 130. Parthians (par'thi-ans), 198; map after 218. Patriarch, in church organization, 255. Patricians (pa-tri'cians), 154. Pavia (pa-ve'a). Battle of, 320; map after 296. Peasant Rising of 1381 (English), 308-9. Pedagogue (ped'a-g5gue), term explained, 121. Peloponnesian (pel-o-pon-ne'si-an) League, 82. Peloponnesian War, causes and character, 124-5 ; plague at Athens, 125; loss in Syracusan expedition, 126 ; exhaustion and fall of Athens, 127. Penates (pe-na'tes), 64. Pentelicus (pen-tel'i-cus), Mount, map, 94. Pergamos (per'ga-mos), 140; map facing 135. Pericles, 104-5 ff. ; glorification of Athens, 112. Persepolis (per-sep'o-lis), maps after 42, 134. Persia, 41-5; and Greeks, 88-96, 99-100. Persian Wars, 88 ff. Perugino (pe-ru'gi-no), 323. Petrarch (pe'trarch), 322. Phaedrus (phaed'rus), 115. Phalanx (pha'lanx), Theban, 131; Macedonian, 134; compared with Roman legion, 168. Phalerum (pha-le'rum), map, 94. Pharaohs (pha'raohs), of Egypt, 11. Pharos (pha'ros), lighthouse, 142. Pharsalus (phar-sa'lus), Battle of, ,204; map after 218. Phidias (phid'i-as), 107. Phidippides (phi-dip 'pi-des), 89, 90. Philae (phi'lse), map, 10. Philip II, of Macedonia, 132-4. Philip V, ally of Hannibal, 177. Philip II, of France (Philip Augus- tus), 290. Philip IV (the Fair), 290-1, 313. Philip of Hapsburg (haps'bura), Plate after 318. Philippi (phil-ip'pi). Battle of, 209; map after 218. Philippics (phil-ip'pics), of Demos- thenes, 134. Philistines, 49, 50; map, 50. Philosophy, see Greek Philosophy. Phocis (pho'sis), map after 52. Phoenicians (phoe-ni'sians), Sem- itic, 30; sailors and merchants, 46 ; colonizers, 47 ; alphabet, 47 ; influence on early Greece, 60; map, 50. Phrygia (phryg'i-a), map after 42, 218. Pilgrimages, in medieval life, 295. Pillars of Hercules, map after 70. Pindar, 73, 135. Pippin the Short, 258. Piraeus (pi-rS'us), map, 94. Pisistratus (pis-is'tra-tus), 78-9. Plataea (pla-ta'-a). Battle of, 96; map after 52. Plato, 143 ; see Museum. Plebeians (ple-be'ians), at Rome, 154, 156 ff. 24 INDEX Plebiscites (pleb'is-cites), Roman, 160. Pliny the Younger, 226. Plow, evolution of, 5, 6. Plutarch (plu'tareh), 226; quoted frequently. Pnyx (pnyx), 105; map, 101. Polybius (po-lyb'i-us), 180; quoted frequently. Pompeii (pom-pa d), 188, and cuts after 180, 188. Pompey “ the Great,” 199. Pontius (pon'ti-us), the Samnite, 163. Pontus (pon'tus), map after 70. Pope, origin of name, 256, note. Porsenna (por-s6n'na), 157, note. Poseidon (po-sei'don), 65. Post roads, Persian, 44 and map after 42 ; Roman, 166, 167, and maps 168 and after 218. Pottery, significance in culture, 2 ; potter’s wheel an Egyptian in- vention, 18 ; in Cretan civiliza- tion, 53, 55 ; Greek vases, 70-1 ; many illustrations from, as on 70, 88, etc. Praetor (prie'tor), Roman, 169. Praetorians (pr^-to'ri-ans), 213. Praxiteles (prax-it'6-les), 126. Prehistoric man, 1-8. Printing, invention, 324-5. Propylaea (prop-y-lfe'a), of Acropo- lis, cut facing 163. Protectorate (pro-tec 'to-rate), term explained, 181, note. Provence (pro-vons'), origin of name, 201, note. Provinces, Roman, 189-90, see Caesar. Psammetichus (psam-met'i-chus), 27. Ptolemy (ptol'e-my) I and II, of Egypt, 141-2, 145. Ptolemy, geographer, 226. Punic Wars, 174-81. Pyramids, Egyptian, 15-6; Plates V and IX ; map, 10. Pyrrhus (pyr'r/ius), 162. Pythagoras (py-thag'o-ras), 74. Quadrivium (quad-riv'i-um), Ro- man, 224, note. Questors (quas'tors), Roman, 169. Quintain (quin 'tain), exercise of, 278. Rameses (ra-me'ses) III, temple of. Plates after 20, 28. Raphael (raph'a-61), 323. Rehoboam (re-/io-bo'am), 51. Relief sculptures, definition, 12, note ; illustrations frequent. Religion, prehistoric, 3 ; Egyptian, 22-4; Chaldean, 40; Persian, 44-5; Hebrews, 51-2; Greek, 64-6; see Greek Philosophy; Roman, 153-4 ; see Christianity, Mohammedanism. Renaissance, the, 321-7. Representative governmerit,growth in England, see Parliament. Rheims Cathedral, Plate after 304. Richard II, 307-8, 309. Roads, see Post Roads. Roman Empire, see Rome; and Julius Caesar, 204-9 ; Julius to Augustus, 209-10 ; Augustus, 211-2; in first two centuries, story of, 211-8; government, 219; extent, 219; a city-life, 219 ; industry, 221 ; trade and travel, 221-3; unity of, 223; peace and prosperity, 223-4 ; architecture, 224 ; education and learning, 224-6 ; morals, 226-8; decline after 180 a.d., 229 ff . ; causes, 232-6 ; victory INDEX 25 of Christian church, 237 ff . ; see Teutons. Roman Forum, see Forum. Roman heritage for civilization, 263-4. Roman Law, see Justinian Code. Roman Republic, land and peoples of Italy, 148-9; legendary his- tory, 149 ; Etruscan trade, 150 ; the “ seven hills,” 151 ; “ ty- rants,” 151-2; head of Latium, 152; life simple, 152-3; reli- gion, 53-4; patricians and ple- beians - — class strife, 155-61 ; unites Italy, 161-2; war with Pyrrhus, 162; Italy under Rome’s rule, 164-9; Roman society at 200 b.c., 169-73; winning of the West, 174-81 ; conquest of the East, 181-2; new class strife, rich and poor, 180-91; the Gracchi, 192-6; Marius and Sulla, 197-9 ; Pompey and Caesar, 199-203; civil war, 203 ; see Caesar, Roman Empire. Rome, city of, map of, " under kings,” 151 ; under Empire, with Aurelian’s walls, 229-30; sack by Goths, 245 ; by Vandals, Plate opposite 245 ; see Papacy. Rosetta (ro-set'ta) Stone, 19-20. Rubicon (ru'bi-con), the crossing of, 203 ; map after 148. Rubruk (ru'bruk). Friar, 325. Rudolph of Hapsburg (haps'buro), 315-6. Runnymede (run'ny-mede), 286. Sabines (sa 'bines), 150; map, 150. St. Mark’s, Venice, Plate after 322. St. Sophia, Constantinople, Plate after 316. Sais (sa'is), 27; map, 10. Salamis (sal'a-mis). Battle of, 94-5; map, 94, 101. Salisbury (sahs'be-ry) Cathedral, Plate after 282 ; cloisters of, 288. Samnites (sam'nites), map after 148. Samos (sa'mos), map after 52. Samson, 49. Samuel, 49. Sappho (sa'fo), 73. Saracens (sar'a-cens), culture in 11th century, 294-5; see Mo- harnmedanism. Sardinia, map after 70. Sardis (sar'dis), map after 42. Sargon (sar'gon), of Assyria, 31. Saul, 49. Saxons, in Britain, 245, 267 ; map after 268. Schliemann (schHe'mann), and work, 59. Schoolmen, medieval, 302-4. Schools, in Chaldea, 36 ; in Greece in age of Pericles, 119, 121, 123; Roman, 172 ; in Roman Empire, 224-5 ; in Empire of Charle- magne, 262 ; in Middle Ages, 301 ; grow into universities, which see. Science, see Education and Learn- ing. Scipio (scip'i-o) (P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus), 179-90. Scipio Africanus the Younger, 180-1. Scythians, in Assyria, 32 ; and Persians, 42-3. Segesta (se-gSs'ta), map after 70. Semites (sem'ites), and Semitic speech, 30, note. Seneca, 213, 226. Sennacherib (sen-na eh 'e-rib), 31. Septuagint (sep'tu-a-gint), the, 145. 26 INDEX Serfdom, in Roman Empire, 235; in feudal age, 270, 273-4; dis- appearance in England, 306-9. Sertorius (ser-td'ri-us), 199. Servius Tullius (ser'vi-us tul'li-us), 152; walls of, 155 and map on 151. Shalmaneser (shal-ma-ne'ser) II, obelisk of, 32. Sicily, Greek colonies in, 70; and wars with Carthage, 88, 174 ; and Punic Wars, 174-5, 176, 177 ; Roman province, 189. Sidon (si 'don), map after 18 and on 50. Simon of Montfort, 289. Slavery, origin, 5 ; Greek, in Sparta, 82 ; in Athens, in age of Pericles, 112-3; Roman, after Punic Wars, 191 ; under Empire, milder, 228 ; but of enormous amount, 232 ; see Serfdom. Slavs (slavs), 245; maps after 248, 260. Social War, the, in Italy, 198. Socrates (soc'ra-tes), 110-2; teach- ings on immortality, 115. Sogdiana (s6g'di-an'a), map after 42. Solomon, 50. Solon (so'lon), democratic reforms, 77-8. Sophists, the, 110. Sophocles (soph'o-cles), 108. Spain, Carthage in, 175; falls to Rome, 180; Vandal conquests and Gothic kingdom, 245 ; Arab conquest, 254 ; recovery and union, 316-7 ; union with Holy Roman Empire, under Charles, see Charles V. Sparta, leading Dorian city, 81 ; government, 82-3 ; Spartan training, 82-3 ; and Persian Wars, 89-96; Peloponnesian War, which see; leadership in Hellas, 127-31 ; and Leuctra, 131-2. Spartacus (spar'ta-cus), 199. Sphinx, Plate after 14. State, definition of, 3. States General, French, see Es- tates General. Stephen, Pope, and Pippin, 258. Stoics, 144. Stone Age, 1-5. Stonehenge (stone 'henge), Plate after 4. Strabo (stra'bo), 226. Sulla (sul'la), 198-200. Sugar, introduced after Crusades, 294. Susa (su'sa), maps after 42, 134. Sybaris (syb'a-ris), Greek colony in Italy, map after 70. Syracuse, map after 70. Syria, maps 50 and after 18 and 134. Tacitus (tac'i-tus), 226; on early Christians, 237 ; on Teutons, 244. Talmud (tal'mud), the, 40. Tarentum (tar-en'tum), map after 70. Tarquins, Roman tyrants, 152. Taurus (tau'rus) Mountains, maps, 33 and after 38. Telescope, invention of, 324. Tempe (tem'pg). Vale of, map after 52. Ten Thousand, March of the, 129- 30. Terminus (ter'min-us), god of bounds, 153. Teutones (teu'to-nes) (and Cim- bri), 197-8. Teutonic contributions to civiliza- tion, 263-4. INDEX 27 Teutonic Law, 248-9. Teutonic Order, Knights of the, map after 302. Teutons, in their first homes, 244 ; invasions and kingdoms on Roman soil, 245 and map after 248; and the Dark Ages, 245-6. Thales (tha'les), 73. Thasos (tha'sos), map after 52. Thebes (thebes), in Egypt, map, 10; in Greece, map after 52; leadership, 131-2; and Mace- donia, 134; razed, 135. Themistocles (the-mis'to-cles), 91- 2, 94-5, 97-8. Theocritus (the-oc'ri-tus), 142. Theodosius (the-o-d5'si-us) the Great, 240-1. Theogony (the-6g'o-ny) of Hesiod, 73. Thermopylae (thgr-mop'y-ls). Bat- tle of, 93 ; map after 52. Thersites (ther-si'tes), 62. Theseus (the'seus), 61; so-called Temple of, 79. Thespis (thgs'pis), 73, 79. Thessaly, map after 52. “ Thirty Tyrants,” at Athens, 128-31. Thrace, map after 52. Thucydides (thu-cyd'i-des), 109; on Peloponnesian War, 125. Thutmosis (thiit-mo'sis), 25. Tiberius (ti-be'ri-us), 213. Ticinus (ti-ci'nus). Battle of, 176; map after 148. Tintoretto (tin-to-ret'to), 323. Titian (ti'shian), 323. Titus (ti'tus), 215. Toga (to'ga), the, described, 279. Toulouse (tou-louse')j map after 218. Tours (toor). Battle of, 255; map facing 253. Towns, in Graeco-Roman World, 137-9; under Roman Empire, 220-1; few from 600 to 1100 A.D., 251 ; survival in south Eu- rope, 251 ; rise of, after Cru- sades, 297-8; life in, 298-9; gilds, 299-300; leagues of, see City-State. Trajan (tra'jan). Emperor, 217 ; column of, 216, and Plate oppo- site ; arch of, Plate after 228. Transubstantiation (tran-sub-stan- shi-a'shon). Doctrine of, 307, note. Trasimene (tras'i-mene). Battle of, 176 ; map after 148. Trebia (treb'i-a). Battle of, 176; map after 148. Tribune, Roman, 159. Trier, Roman remains at, 225 ; map after 218. Trireme (tri'reme), 124. Trivium (triv'i-um), the Roman, 224. Troubadours (trou'ba-doors), the, 304. Troy, story of siege, 58; excava- tions at, 59-60; map after 70. Tudors, the, 311. Turks, the, 295 ; and Crusades, 294-6; in southeast Europe, 317. Twelve Tables, the laws of the, 159. Tyrants, Greek, place between oli- garchies and democracies, 74-5. Tyre, 46-7 ; map after 18 and 38, etc. Ulpian (ul'pi-an), 228. Universities, origin in Graeco-Ori- ental World, see Museum; Ro- man, 224-5; medieval, 301-2. 28 INDEX Ur, in Chaldea, 30, 48; map after 18. Urban VI, Pope, 314. Utica (u'ti-ca), founded by Phoeni- cians, 47 ; map after 70. Utopia, 324. Vandals, 245 and Plate after 246 ; map after 248. Van Eycks (Iks'), the, and oil painting, 323. Vaphio (vaph'i-o) Cups, the. Plates XV, XVI, after 54. Vasco da Gama (vas'co da ga'ma), 321. Venice, 217. Venus, 153; see Aphrodite. Verdun (ver-dun'). Treaty of, 265; map of, after 264. Vergil (vcr'gil), 226. Verres (vgr'res), and Sicily, 190. Vespasian (ves-pa'si-an). Emperor, 215. Vesta (ves'ta), 65, 153. Vestal Virgins, 153. Vezere (va-zar') River, Plate after 2. Villa, Roman, 185-6; Teutonic, 250-1. Villeins (vil'leins), 270 ff. Visigoths (vis'i-goths), set West Goths. Volscians (vol'sci-ans), map 150. Wars of the Roses, 311. Wars of the Succession, 140. Wat the Tyler, 308. Watling Street, 268; map after 268. Wergeld (ver'gglt), 248. Wessex (wes'sex), 268 and map opposite. West Goths, 245; map after 248. William I, of England, 284. Witan (wi'tan), 287, 289. Woman, in primitive industry, 2, 4, 5 ; in Egypt, 14-5 ; in Greece, 78, 113; in Roman Em- pire, 227. Writing, stages in invention of, 6-8 ; see Alphabet, Hieroglyph- ics, Cuneiform, Printing. Wyclif (wy'clif), John, 307, 315. Xenophon (zen'o-phon), 110; and “ March of the Ten Thousand,” 130; at ruins of Nineveh, 33. Xerxes (zerx'es), 91-5. York, map after 218. Ypres (e'pr). Hall at, 318. Zama (za'ma). Battle of, 190; map after 176. Zend Avesta (zend' a-ves'ta), 44-5. Zeno, the Stoic, 144. Zenobia (ze-no'bi-a), 229. Zeus, 65. Zeuxis (zeux'is), 143. Zoroaster (zo-ro-as'ter), 44-5. ■'X Date Due %7 '■' \f a 1 2 « ‘m ! s^iAFl 1 6 RETUR,V ecTi9 imm ii.t !tfi A ! (. mm;* [ aejurn 8n FEB ? 1 ^ J3 1 1 1 LU ^ ^ fu r D 59 H527 1923 WEST WILLIS MASON 1857-1931 A SHORT HISTORY OF EARLY PEOPLES TO 1500 A 0 FROM 39H493H2 CURR HIST - 0 00 0 2 2 7 G2H2 1 - f D 59 W527 IS 23 ^fSTORiCAC Westt Willis Mason, 1 S57- 1 A short history of early peoples to 1500 A«D«, from 0354737T CURE j r